Evenas a boy, Robert Thurman had a strong philosophical bent. Born in New York Cityin 1941, he says he was equally dissatisfied with traditional religion andWestern philosophy, which he found too dry for his highly emotional nature. Butwhen Thurman discovered Buddhist philosophy as a teenager, he felt it offered amiddle path between bloodless secularism and blind faith.
"WhileBuddhism has a religious aspect, its central drive is towards wisdom? and thatreally inspired me, that reason and emotion could be brought together [and]harmonized," says Thurman. He adds that Buddhism is an ancient academicand philosophical discipline that embraces many sciences "but the keyscience is psychology. Because the key to the good life is how your mind isregulated."
Thurmanwent on to study at Harvard University, where he says his knowledge of Buddhismremained mostly theoretical, while he lived the life of a carefreeundergraduate. But that changed shortly after he turned 20, and lost his lefteye in an accident. "And that was like a visceral experience ofimpermanence - and woke me up [to the fact] that I have to live what my idealsare."
In1961, during his senior year at Harvard, Thurman took what he jokingly referredto as an "infinite leave of absence," and traveled to India for ayear, to deepen his scholarship and meditation practice. After returning to theU.S., he learned to speak Tibetan fluently, and to read and translate classicBuddhist texts.
"Itwas like meeting a superior civilization, a civilization that did not believethat human nature was inherently violent," he says."[It seemed to me that Americans] werelike far away barbarians with our tanks and our aircraft carriers and ournuclear weapons."
Back in India in 1964, Thurman befriended the young , who ordained him the next year as a monkin the Tibetan tradition; it was the first time any American had been sohonored. But finding himself unsuited to the monastic life, he renounced hisvows two years later.
Thurmanreturned once more to the U.S., married, and went back to Harvard. In 1972, hewas awarded a PhD in philosophy, based on his dissertation on the esotericBuddhist doctrine of "," or emptiness.
Thedecade of the 70s was a fertile era in America's spiritual life, whenmeditation and other Eastern spiritual practices were beginning to enter thecultural mainstream. But Thurman detected an anti-intellectual strain amongAmerican Buddhists, who felt that meditation meant merely "unlearning."
Thurmanopines that from the Indo-Tibetan perspective, that is a serious mistake."The 'unlearning' involves using your critical intellect. You need todebate and develop a way of being deeply critical about your own dogmaticideas. So you to learn!"
Thurmanhas devoted his life to helping others learn about Tibetan Buddhism, both as aprofessor at Columbia University, and as an author and translator of nearly 20books, including national bestsellers such as .Other works have made previously arcane Buddhist subjects, such as thephilosophy of conscious dying and sacred Tibetan architecture, accessible tomainstream Americans.
In1987, with his friends the Dalai Lama and actor Richard Gere, Thurmanco-founded Tibet House in New York, a non-profit group dedicated to presentingthe spiritual and cultural riches of Tibet to the world.
ButThurman says he does not wish to "convert" anyone to Buddhism. Inthis, he says he is following the Dalai Lama's example. "He really hasbeen a leader in? telling Christians and everyone else 'praise the glories ofyour religions to the skies' and say 'it's best for ,' but don't tryto impose it on others.' That's the best way in the pluralistic world!"
Atnearly 70, Robert Thurman refuses to slow down. His projects include thecontinuing translation of a massive collection of Buddhist scientific texts,the creation of a center for Tibetan medicine, and the promotion of his currentbook , which explains the Dalai Lama's proposalfor peace between Tibetans and the Chinese.