Robert Thurman, "whose erudite, exuberant efforts to expand the West's understanding of Tibetan Buddhism earned him a reputation as 'the Dalai Lama's man in America,' " died June 16, the New York Times reported. He was 84. A former Buddhist monk who had been ordained and partly trained by the Dalai Lama, Thurman later earned a doctorate in Indic studies from Harvard and taught at Amherst and Columbia.
He wrote, edited, and translated more than 20 books on Buddhism, including centuries-old texts intended for scholars and advanced practitioners as well as titles like Inner Revolution: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Real Happiness (1998), which were written for the broader public and sold well.
His other books include a translation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead (1994), Essential Tibetan Buddhism (1995), The Jewel Tree of Tibet: The Enlightenment Engine of Tibetan Buddhism (2005), Infinite Life: Seven Virtues for Living Well (2004), Why the Dalai Lama Matters: His Act of Truth as the Solution for China, Tibet, and the World (2008), and Love Your Enemies: How to Break the Anger Habit & Be a Whole Lot Happier (with Sharon Salzberg, 2013)
With the rise of interest in Eastern philosophy and religion during the 1970s counterculture movement, Thurman pushed for a historically grounded, intellectually rigorous understanding of the tradition, the Times wrote.
"His translations went to the depths of the sophistication of the Tibetan exploration of consciousness," said David Kittay, a former student of Thurman at Columbia who now teaches religion there. "Yet he could explain it so anyone could get it."
Thurman "brought an infectious energy to the many lectures and conferences he organized around Buddhism and the plight of Tibet under Chinese rule," the Times noted, adding that people were often surprised by how sociable he was, given his years as a monk.
"I don't think he considered those to be contradictions," said Rodger Kamenetz, an expert on Buddhist-Jewish relations and author of Seeing Into the Life of Things: Imagination and the Sacred Encounter. "He viewed meditation not as quietism, but as a release of energy, and he just had great energy."
In 1972, Thurman founded the American Institute of Buddhist Studies at Columbia, which translates and preserves classical Indian Buddhist texts. In 1987, at the Dalai Lama's request, he and his wife, Nena--along with actor Richard Gere and composer Philip Glass--founded Tibet House U.S., where Thurman later served for decades as president. He and his wife also operated the Menla Retreat and Dewa Spa, located near Woodstock, N.Y.
His daughter, the actress Uma Thurman, said, "My father was a magnificent, charismatic, passionate, curious, alive, vibrant human being. He never stopped investigating the world in all its facets. He was obsessed with the power of compassion."
In the early 1960s, Thurman decided to become a monk and persuaded his teacher to accompany him to Dharamshala, India, the home in exile of the Dalai Lama. The Times noted that Thurman and the Dalai Lama "became fast friends: He studied under the Tibetan spiritual leader and, in turn, gave him lessons in Freudian psychology, nuclear physics and other Western ideas." Although he was ordained, when Thurman returned to the U.S, he was persuaded that he could better serve Buddhism by becoming a professor.
"Buddhism is not primarily religious," he told The Believer magazine in 2020. "It deteriorates if someone believes they will get to nirvana if they just worship the Buddha. But the Buddha was saying, 'Worshipping me is not going to get you there; you have to do something.' "