The 3rd child of the 10, Yeshi Jimpa was born in Lhasa in 1940. At a tender age he set out to become a monk at Namgyal monastery at Potala. At 16 Yeshi-la finished his high school and became a monk. In 1959, when he was only 19, Yeshi escaped from Lhasa and eventually arrived in Dharamshala in northwest India. There he continued to be a monk and pursue higher studies. In 1970, he met Lhamo, who was a budding artist at Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts. Yeshi, thus left his monk hood and married Lhamo and soon after arrived in Montreal.

Here he continued to study French and English and taught Tibetan language for few years at a local college and at home. He made a living by working in the accounting department of various hotels.

Yeshi-la has always been very interested in Tibetan history and has read on it for many years, on his own. Presently he is retired but continues to be interested in history of Tibet and world at large.