Though his parents come from Namru in Tibet, Jampel Tenzin was born in the land of Lo Monthang, or Mustang, in northwest Nepal. His is a tight-knit but large family; he has three brothers and four sisters. Like many children of Tibetan refugees, he attended the Tibetan Children’s Village through class twelve. After graduation, he thought about going to university but decided instead to study Buddhist philosophy. So at the age of eighteen, he was ordained a monk and entered the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala. After he completed his study of the Perfection of Wisdom material, he was drawn to Kollegal, in the south of India, where Jangchak Rinpoche Lodroe Gyaltsen, a student of the great Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodroe, lived and taught. Through the power of past karma and aspirational prayers, Jangchak Rinpoche accepted Jampel Tenzin as his disciple and granted him numerous teachings and instructions. he completed a long retreat under his guidance. After Jangchak Rinpoche passed away Jampel Tenzin returned to Dharamsala. Over four years ago, he came to Chime Gatsal Ling, where he teaches the monks literary and colloquial Tibetan, Buddhist history and English.