Samding Dorje Phagmo He was born in 1893 at Sa-ngen or Rekhe Ajam in Gonjo, near Katok Monastery in Kham south of DeGe.

In the following years of his youth he was tutored by Khenpo Thupten in grammar, astrology, Sanskrit and Buddhist texts.

From the time he was seventeen, he received Sakya school transmissions such as lamdre lopshe and the Hevajra tantra, and many Nyingma terma teachings.

The next few years of his life he visited many monasteries of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, and received transmissions and lineage teachings from various teachers.

He continued to perfect, and accomplish the meditations and the sadhanas of all the Tibetan traditions, becoming a true Rime master, who was able to teach both analytical philosophy and the performance of practices leading to realization from the various lineages.

In the 1940s he studied with the leading Vajrayana masters from all over Tibet, and continued receiving transmissions from the Gelug, Nyingma, Sakya and Kagyu schools.

According to his prophecies and those of Khyentse Wangpo, Jamgon Kongtrul, in order to remove obstacles to his longevity, and so he could continue to teach Dharma, it was necessary for him to drop his monastic vows and marry.

While there, he was invited to Tsurphu Monastery to give teachings and empowerments to Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Karmapa.

[1][2] At the age of sixty-seven, in early 1959 with the Chinese Communist invasion of Tibet underway, he again became seriously ill. Prayers and rituals for his long life were performed day and night, by all the lineages in Sikkim.