Robert Thurman lectures on Buddhism and conflict

Robert Thurman is not only Uma Thurman’s father, but also one of the leading experts on Tibetan Buddhism and the first American to be ordained as a Tibetan monk by the Dalai Lama. On the evening of Sept. 30 in a packed Jepson Alumni Center, Thurman spoke to a crowd of students, staff and Richmond community members about the Buddhist perspective on conflict and anger.

Thurman’s spiritual journey began when he was a student at Harvard University and left school to travel. He eventually ended up in India where he met the Dalai Lama in 1962. After studying Buddhism and learning Tibetan, he was ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk by the Dalai Lama. In 1967, Thurman returned to the U.S. and continued his Buddhist studies as a professor rather than a monk.

Thurman discussed many topics throughout his lecture such as global warming, war, Tibet and Buddhism.

Towards the end of his lecture he discussed how Tibet was not a lost cause and the Dalai Lama was doing some extraordinary work. “He is responding to the extreme abuse of the people under his care, yet he is responding to this with a peace initiative,” Thurman said.

Thurman said the Dalai Lama was hopeful that people would see that war didn't work and conflict must be solved with dialogue.

Thurman’s lecture was cosponsored by the department of religious studies, and was the first of the 2014-2015 Jepson Leadership Forum events, which will focus on conflict this year.

Don Forsyth, a leadership studies professor and one of the organizers for the forum events this year, said he wanted these events to examine conflict from multiple perspectives, including the Eastern view of conflict. Forsyth said via email that Thurman had been a very important person to include in the series.

“Tibetan Buddhists have a perspective on ethics, civilization and religion that differs from the outlook that is more common in this country, so we felt his teachings would raise new questions and offer new interpretations of some too-often-taken-for-granted ideas,” Thurman wrote.

Anne Coglianese, a Richmond senior, said, “I thought the lecture was interesting because he had such strong opinions and we usually don’t get to see speakers like that at university events.”

Thurman said he had spoken at many universities and he was unhappy with the financial pressure put on college students. “If the banks can be bailed out to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars after doing illegal and heartless and greedy and semi-criminal work ... then the students can be bailed out to make a great contribution to the society,” Thurman said.

Miranda Shaw, professor of religious studies, has known Thurman for many years, having met him as an undergraduate and then studying Tibetan language and Buddhist thought with him at the American Institute for Buddhist Studies.

“It’s wonderful to have a Buddhist leader of such stature at our university,” Shaw said via email. She said she thought Richmond students could gain a brief but insightful introduction to the central principles of Buddhist thought and practice.

Sarah Abel, a Richmond sophomore, said she enjoyed the unique perspective of the lecture and it gave Richmond students an outlook on a topic that often wasn't represented on Richmond’s campus.

The crowd consisted of many adults from the surrounding Richmond area. Peter Rippe, a Goochland, Virginia resident, said he thought there had been a lot of wisdom in the lecture, but it had not been as well-delivered as he had hoped. Rippe said there had been some parts of the lecture during which he could not hear Thurman clearly.

The next Jepson Forum event will be Oct. 21 featuring Maj. Gen. Michael Lehnert.

Contact reporter Bridget Friendly at bridget.friendly@richmond.edu