Robert Thurman

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Robert Thurman, 2006

Robert Alexander Farrar Thurman (born August 4, 1941 in New York City ) is an American Buddhist author, one of the most famous academic exponents of Buddhism in the United States. He is Je Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University .

Life

Thurman was born in New York City to Elizabeth Dean Farrar, an actress, and Beverly Reid Thurman, Jr., an Associated Press editor and UN translator. He attended the Philips Exeter Academy from 1954 to 1958, then Harvard University , from which he graduated in 1962 with a Bachelor of Arts .

In 1959 he married Christophe de Menil, they had one child. After losing an eye in an accident in 1961, he decided to change his life, divorced, and traveled through Turkey, Iran, and India from 1961 to 1966. He became a Buddhist, then ordained a Buddhist monk in 1964 (the first American monk in the Tibetan tradition), and became friends with the Dalai Lama . In 1967 he came back to the USA and ended his status as a monk and married his second wife, the German-Swedish Birgitte Caroline "Nena" von Schlebrügge (born January 8, 1941 in Mexico City), former model and later psychoanalyst, who previously was briefly married to Timothy Leary . Thurman and von Schlebrugge have four children, the second is the actress Uma Thurman .

In 1969 he received the Master of Arts and in 1972 the Ph.D. in Sanskrit Indian Studies at Harvard. He was professor of religion at Amherst College from 1973 to 1988 , and since then Thurman has taught at Columbia University. Time magazine named him one of the 25 most influential Americans in 1997.

effect

Thurman is recognized for his excellent English translations and explanations of Buddhist religious and philosophical texts and topics, especially that of the Gelugpa School of Tibetan Buddhism and its founder, Je Tsong Khapa.

Publications

  • The Central Philosophy of Tibet: A Study and Translation of Jey Tsong Khapa's 'Essence of True Eloquence '. Princeton Library of Asian Translations; Princeton University Press , 1991
  • The Tibetan Book of the Dead . Bantam Doubleday Dell , 1994
  • Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet. H. Abrams , 1996
  • Tibetan Buddhism. HarperSanFrancisco , 1996, ISBN 0-7881-6757-X
  • Mandala : The Architecture of Enlightenment. Shambhala Publications, 1997
  • Worlds of Transformation: Tibetan Art of Wisdom and Compassion. Harry N. Abrams, 1999
  • Inner Revolution: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Real Happiness. Penguin , 1999
  • The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti : A Mahayana Scripture. Translation by Robert Thurman; Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-271-01209-9
  • Circling the Sacred Mountain: A Spiritual Adventure Through the Himalayas. together with Tad Wise; Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1999
  • Infinite Life: Seven Virtues for Living Well. Riverhead Books , 2004, ISBN 1-57322-267-4
  • The Jewel Tree of Tibet: The Enlightenment Engine of Tibetan Buddhism. Free Press, Simon Schuster, 2005
  • Anger. Oxford University Press , 2005, ISBN 0-19-516975-1
  • Infinite Life. Seven Virtues for Living Well. Riverhead Books, 2004

Awards

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  1. ↑ Family tree of Uma Thurman (English)
  2. ↑ Years of birth of the children on Familypedia (English)
  3. ↑ Robert Alexander Farrar Thurman. Contemporary Authors Online , Thomson Gale, 2007.
  4. ^ Time : Time's 25 most influential Americans ; Edition of April 21, 1997

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Thurman, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thurman, Robert Alexander Farrar (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Buddhist author
DATE OF BIRTH 4th August 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City