The Thurman family is mourning a loss.
Uma Thurman‘s dad Robert Thurman—one of the most prominent Tibetan Buddhist experts in the United States—died June 16 at age 84, his nonprofit Tibet House US confirmed.
“We are deeply saddened to announce that Robert A.F. Thurman,” the organization wrote in a June 16 statement on Instagram, “prominent American Buddhist scholar, co-founder of Tibet House US, author and translator whose teachings shaped countless lives, died.”
Tibet House US—which Thurman co-founded in 1987 at the request of the Dalai Lama—urged online users to respect the family’s request for privacy amid this chapter.
Thurman—dad to the Kill Bill actress, 56, Gandem Thurman, 58, Dechen Thurman, 53, Mipam Thurman, 48, with wife Nena Thurman, as well as Taya Thurman, 66, with ex-wife Christophe de Menil—became interested in Tibetan Buddhism as a Harvard University student, according to his website.
After traveling to Asia in 1962 and meeting the Dalai Lama, he became a monk and the first Westerner to be ordained by the spiritual leader. However, he renounced his monk status—which required celibacy—five years later to marry Nena.
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