Khyung sprul Rinpoche (1897-1955) was probably the most renowned Bonpo pilgrim of his time after traveling across Tibet, India, Nepal and Bhutan for more than 50 years. Born within an aristocratic lineage in the nomadic kingdom of Hor, he soon showed his aspiration to devote his entire life to Bon.

His written biography gives a full account of the first half of the 20th century in Tibet just before traditional life was to be suppressed. The Bonpo lama met various personalities of his time, like the 13th Dalai Lama, the 28th and the 30th Menri Tridzin, the 9th Panchen Lama, the 16th Karmapa, the 1st bDe chen rgyal po, the last king of the princely state of Bushahr, the 1st Bhutanese king and various provincial governors of mNga’ ris, among others. Besides, his biography provides a valuable source of information for the toponymy and onomastics of remote Himalayan regions as Hor, Kinnaur and mNga’ ris.

From the scholastic atmosphere of sMan ri monastery in gTsang, he finally joined a community of rdzogs chen practitioners in Nam mkha’ khyung rdzong under the guidance of bDe chen Rinpoche, and in Kinnaur he undertook the difficult task of wiping out the ancient and deeply rooted tradition of offering animal sacrifices to local deities. In the mid 30’s he founded his own monastery in mNga’ ris, but continued to cross the Western Himalayan border accompanied by his disciples to visit traditional Indian sacred sites such as Varanasi or Amritsar.