Train with Professor Robert Thurman: An Urban Vajrayoga™ Retreat in London
Bob Thurman, known in academic circles as Padma Shri Professor Emeritus Robert A.F. Thurman, is a teacher and practitioner of the Buddha’s teachings, having briefly in his early twenties been a Tibetan Buddhist monk ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
A charismatic speaker and author of many books on Tibet, Buddhism, art, politics and culture, Bob was once named by The New York Times a leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism. He was awarded the Padma Shri Award in 2020 by the President of India, for his life work toward the restoration of India’s ancient Buddhist heritage, long treasured and cultivated in Tibet.
In 1997, Time Magazine chose him as one of the 25 most influential Americans, describing him as a “larger-than-life scholar-activist destined to convey the Dharma, the precious teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, from Asia to America.”
Bob taught academically for fifty years, the last 31 at Columbia University. A popular professor, students often felt his classes were “life-changing.” He is the co-founder and president of Tibet House US, the Dalai Lama’s U.S. cultural center, dedicated to preserving and promoting the compassionate culture of Tibet.
He also directs the American Institute of Buddhist Studies, dedicated to the translation and publication of the Tibetan Treasury of the long-lost Indian Nalanda University library’s artistic and scientific Sanskrit Buddhist treatises preserved in fine Tibetan translations.
His books include The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti, Man of Peace: An Illustrated Biography of the Dalai Lama of Tibet, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, and his latest, Wisdom Is Bliss: The Four Friendly Fun Facts that Can Change Your Life.
He is a co-founder of the Vajrayoga™ brand of open-source yoga, as inspired by H. H. the Dalai Lama’s approach to spiritual science and technology as beyond any religious dogma.
Why Train with Robert Thurman
When you join the Urban Vajrayoga™ Retreat at The Studio Space, London on 8th and 9th November, you’re not simply attending a weekend programme — you’re training under a living bridge between Buddhism and yoga, lineage and modernity, scholarship and practice.
A Legacy of Depth, Transformation, and Integration
- Bob Thurman’s own trajectory — from a Western youth who lost an eye and embarked on a spiritual quest, to monk, translator, professor, and culture-preserver — gives him a rare vantage. He has walked through suffering, insight, and service, enabling him to teach with authenticity and heart.
- As the founding spiritual mind behind Tibet House US and Menla Retreat + Spa, Thurman anchors his teachings within institutions that sustain Tibetan heritage globally. Training with him connects you to this living legacy.
- His decades-long scholarship, translation of classic Buddhist and yogic texts, and experience at Columbia University (where he held the first endowed chair in Buddhist Studies in the West) enhance his capacity to teach with clarity and rigour.
- Through his writing (Essential Tibetan Buddhism, The Central Philosophy of Tibet, Why the Dalai Lama Matters, Love Your Enemies) and public teaching, Thurman has consistently brought spiritual ideas into dialogue with modern life. Training with him helps you live that same dialogue.
What you will experience when you join with retreat
Over the course of the weekend, Thurman will guide you through:
- Teachings drawn from the Yoga Sutras, Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Way of the Bodhisattva, Mahāsiddha teachings, and Tibetan tantras.
- Guided meditations, Sanskrit sound practices, and dream yoga techniques.
- Q&A sessions where he addresses real questions with rare candour.
- Integration of practice and philosophy — training you not only in what to do, but how to embody what you learn.
You’ll also move with Dr. John Campbell, whose rejuvenating practice sessions will support greater energetic coherence and resilience in the body.
A Retreat That Invites Transformation
Training with Thurman in London is a rare chance to ground ancient wisdom in your daily life. Whether you come as a seasoned practitioner or someone newly curious, his teaching style encourages accessibility, nuance, and transformation.
You’ll leave with:
- A renewed sense of how yoga and Buddhist wisdom intersect.
- Deeper energetic sensitivity and embodied clarity.
- Language to articulate spiritual insight in modern contexts.
- A connection to a lineage that spans continents, centuries, and hearts.
Train with Professor Thurman — a weekend that reaches far beyond asana.
Podcasts
As part of Bob's long-term commitment to the Tibetan cause, at the request of H.H. the Dalai Lama, Bob co-founded Tibet House US in 1987 with Tenzin Tethong, Richard Gere, and Philip Glass, a non-profit organization based in New York City and dedicated to the preservation and renaissance of Tibetan culture.
Keen on Yoga Podcast
"Inspired by his long-time good friend the Dalai Lama, Bob takes us along with him into an expanded vision of the world through the prisma of Tibetan Buddhism. He shares with us the sense of refuge in the Dharma, which unfailingly helps us clear away the shrouds of fear and confusion. He sustains us with the cheerfulness of an enriched gift, and opens a door to a path of realistic hope for a peaceful, kind, and wise future"
Bob has a prolific podcast of 287 episodes to date, which you can find on his website
Instagram @bob__thurman @tibethouse.us @menlaretreat
Bob has a prolific podcast of 287 episodes to date, which you can find on his website
Instagram @bob__thurman @tibethouse.us @menlaretreat
LISTEN NOW
