Uma Thurman‘s father Robert Thurman, an erstwhile monk and renowned scholar of Tibetan Buddhism, has died at the age of 84.
He made history as the first westerner to be ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk by the Dalai Lama himself, according to his official website.
For three decades until his retirement in 2019, he held the Je Tsongkhapa professorship of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University.
Uma’s upbringing was influenced by Robert’s religion, with two years of her childhood spent in Almora, a town that was then famed as a destination for visiting western Buddhists in a North Indian state bordering Tibet.
His death was announced Tuesday by Tibet House US, the nonprofit he co-founded at the Dalai Lama’s urging with names including Richard Gere.
Robert Thurman dead at 84: Made history as the first Westerner to be ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk by the Dalai Lama
American Buddhist Net 