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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.
After returning to Harvard to complete his PhD in Sanskrit Indian Studies, he became a professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, where he taught for three decades.
While Thurman found his passion in education, he was also happy to support whichever direction his children's lives took them, of which included Uma's successful acting career.
"Though I do have different sides and am still a highly imperfect individual," he previously told Spirituality and Practice. "I don't see any dichotomy between aspiring to practice Buddhist virtues, studying and teaching about the nature of the mind, reality, and history, and having good friends, whether famous or not."
"Having a wonderful daughter like Uma is a special bit of good karma," he emphasized, "and we are very proud of her."
Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Tibet House US
For Uma's part, the Pulp Fiction star—who shares kids Maya Hawke, 27, and Levon Hawke, 24, with ex-husband Ethan Hawke, as well as Luna Thurman-Busson, 13, with ex Aprad Busson—was grateful for her childhood, despite her parents' diverging beliefs.
"There's been a lot written about my upbringing, making it sound as if it were some hippie-dippy childhood, but that's totally absurd," she explained to the Irish Examiner in April 2005. "There's an assumption that because someone is a Buddhist, they are a leftie loose cannon, unusually weird, and that's complete baloney!"
"I was brought up in academic housing," Uma added. "I went to school, my father was a professor. It was all extremely normal."
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