Robert Thurman
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Robert Alexander Farrar Thurman (born August 4, 1941 in New York City) is an American Buddhist writer and academic. He is the Je Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University. He also is the co-founder and president of Tibet House New York and currently holds the first endowed chair in this field of study in the United States. He is the father of five children including the actress Uma Thurman.
Dr. Thurman is highly-regarded for his lucid, dynamic translations and explanations of Buddhist religious and philosophical material, particularly that pertaining to the Gelukpa (dge-lugs-pa) school of Tibetan Buddhism and its founder, Je Tsong Khapa including Tsong Khapa's Speech of Gold: Reason and Enlightenment in the Central Philosophy of Tibet, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Essential Tibetan Buddhism, and his most recent, Inner Revolution: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Real Happiness.
At the age of 24, he became the first Western monk of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. A close personal friend of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, he has served as occasional translator to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. He has lectured all over the world.
Works
- 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 078816757X)
- 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)
- Circling the Sacred Mountain: A Spiritual Adventure Through the Himalayas co-authored with Tad Wise (Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1999)
- Infinite Life: Seven Virtues for Living Well (Riverhead Books, 2004, ISBN 1573222674)
- The Jewel Tree of Tibet: The Enlightenment Engine of Tibetan Buddhism (Free Press, Simon Schuster, 2005)
- Anger (Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN 0195169751)
- The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000 ISBN 0-271-01209-9)
Multimedia
Thurman, Robert (1999). Robert A.F. Thurman on Buddhism. DVD. ASIN B00005Y721.Thurman, Robert (2002). Robert Thurman on Tibet. DVD. ASIN B00005Y722.
External links
- [Bob Thurman] Authorized web site
- [Thurman Web Site]
- [Video of an energetic talk about Buddhism and education at Columbia]
- [Free video clip of Robert Thurman at Big Picture TV]
- Thurman's [Interview with The Dalai Lama] in Mother Jones
Reference
[Robert Thurman's Authorized Web Site]
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