Pawo Rinpoche fled Tibet during the uprising against Chinese Communist rule in 1959, travelling to Bhutan and then on the Kalimpong in India. At the request of the Dalai Lama, Pawo Rinpoche served as an instructor at the Sanskrit University in Varanasi from 1962 until 1966. In 1975, he travelled in Western countries, establishing his Western seat in France where he lived permanently (1978–1986). In 1986 he established a new Nenang, Nénang Püntsok Monastery (), near Boudhanath in Nepal, where he resided for the remainder of his life.