In his late teens and early twenties he trained as a yogin in Tibet with a local yogin known as Zopa Tharchin. He spent his early youth in retreat in the mountains until his teacher told him to study for the benefit of others. A renowned scholar, he excelled in philosophical debate and always aimed to turn the minds of his opponents and students towards their own inner experience, rather than getting lost in intellectual fabrications.

After the communist invasion of Tibet, Khenpo Rinpoche fled to India in 1960. He spent many years in Bhutan as a wandering yogin, meditating in caves and hermitages. In 1975 he was asked by the sixteenth Karmapa, head of the Kagyu tradition, to be abbot of the main Kagyu centre in France. However he asked instead to be allowed to travel and help people everywhere.

From that point on, he did that, leading a truly simple, homeless life; he was a master of nonattachment. On many occasions, he refused to accept property to build Buddhist centers and he regularly gave away all of his money. Khenpo Rinpoche demonstrated the carefree life of a yogin, singing spontaneous songs of realization wherever he went, devoted only to the welfare of others.