[1] Born in Dhagpo, located in southeastern U-Tsang in Tibet,[1] Dagpo Rinpoche was recognized by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of Dagpo Lama Jampel Lhundrup when he was only two years old.

[1] At age six, Rinpoche entered Bamchoe Monastery[2] where he first learned to read and write, studying Tibetan Buddhism.

[2] In 1959, as the Chinese invaded Tibet, he followed the Dalai Lama into exile in India.

[1] In 1961, he moved to France, where he took up a research and teaching position at INALCO at Sorbonne University in Paris.

Dagpo Rimpoche is considered a reincarnation of the 10th century Buddhist master Dharmakīrtiśrī (Tibetan: Serlingpa; Wylie: gser gling pa; Chinese: 金州大師, literally "from Suvarnadvīpa"), also known as Kulānta and Suvarṇadvipi Dharmakīrti, a renowned 10th century Buddhist teacher in Sumatra (Indonesia).