He was born in 1941 and raised in a semi-nomadic family that lived in the village of Joephu (in the Dhoshul region of Khampa in eastern Tibet) during the winters and moved with the herds to high mountain pastures during the summers. The monastery for the Dhoshul region was called Gochen and his father's family had a hereditary responsibility for administration of the monastery’s business affairs. His grandfather had also been both administrator and chantmaster in charge of the ritual ceremonies there.

Khenchen Palden’s education started with reading at age four. By age seven he had begun ngondro practice and started studying at the monastery. At age twelve he went to one of eastern Tibet’s oldest and largest monastic institutes, Riwoche monastery, to train to become the next abbot of Gochen and completed those studies just as the Chinese invasion had reached the area. In the winter of 1960 he and his family were forced into exile during which time they were captured and escaped three times. His sisters died during the escape and his mother died shortly after reaching India. He, his father, and younger brother lived in refugee camps. Eventually he was appointed to teach at Sanskrit University in Varanasi. At that time he also helped found the Institute for Tibetan High Studies, where he was head of the Department of Nyingmapa Studies.

In 1980 Khenchen Palden made his first trip to America and in 1984 moved to New York to work closely with H. H. Dudjom Rinpoche, head of the Nyimgmapa lineage. In 1985 he founded the Dharma Samudra Publishing Company and subsequently published a Tibetan edition in eleven volumes of the termas of Tsasum Lingpa which were formerly held at Gochen monastery. After the Tibetan diaspora he searched through the refuge communities in India, Nepal and Sikkim to locate and assemble these texts. In 1988 he and his brother, Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche, founded the Padmasambhava Buddhist Center,
which incorporated as a nonprofit religious organization.

Khenchen Palden has taught in Tibet, India, Nepal, England, France Belgium, Australia, Canada, Russia, Puerto Rico and throughout the United States. He is the author of six works in the Tibetan language; a book of poetry, a grammar text, two works dealing with philosophy, a work on logic, Madhyamika and tantra, and also a history book on 11th-15th century Tibetan masters. His works in English include The Light of the Dharma, Prajnaparamita; The Six Perfections, a commentary on the Heart Sutra entitled Ceaseless Echoes of the Great Silence, and Door to Inconceivable Wisdom and Compassion. He is currently at work on commentaries on dream yoga and ngon dro practice titled The Dark Red Amulet and an autobiography. His book The Flaming Light of the Sun and the Moon is currently being translated into english by the Nalanda Translation Committee in Boulder, Colorado. The Light of the Dharma and Prajnaparamita; The Six Perfections have been translated in Spanish and are currently being translated into Russian. He is also working on building a monastic university on a piece of land near the Deer Park in Sarnath, India. Khenchen Palden maintains a travel schedule that includes yearly stops at each of the Padmasambhava Buddhist centers, including trips to India, Puerto Rico and Russia.

He was born in the Dhoshul region of Kham in 1950. Soon after his birth three prominent lamas from Jadchag monastery, a large monastery three days travel north of his village, came to his home and recognized him as the reincarnation of Khenpo Sherab Khyentse. Khenpo Sherab Khyentse, who had been the former head abbot lama at Gochen monastery, was a renowned scholar and practitioner who lived much of his life in retreat.

At the age of five Khenpo Tsewang entered Gochen monastery to begin his studies but had them interrupted by the Chinese invasion and his family's escape to India. In India his father and brother continued his education until he entered the Nyingmapa Monastic School of northern India, where he studied until 1967. He then entered Sanskrit University in Varanasi where he received his B. A. degree in 1975. He also attended Nyingmapa University in West Bengal, where he received another B. A. and a M. A. in 1977.

In 1978 he was invested with the title Khenpo by H. H. Dudjom Rinpoche. He was later appointed head abbot of the Department of Dharma Studies at the Wishfulfilling Institute in Katmandu, Nepal, where he taught poetry, grammar, philosophy and psychology.In 1980 he made his first trip to the United States and in 1981 he went to Paris, France at the request of Dudjom Rinpoche where he assumed the responsibilities of abbot of the Dorje Nyingpo Center. In 1982 he was called back to New York to work with Dudjom Rinpoche at the Yeshe Nyingpo Center and worked at this center until the death of Dudjom Rinpoche in 1987.

In 1988 he and his brother founded the Padmasambhava Buddhist Center and since that time he has served as spiritual director at the various Padmasambhava centers. He maintains an active travel schedule with his brother and often serves as translator for teachings given by Khenchen Palden. He has taught in Nepal, India, France, Canada, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Russia, and throughout the United States.

Khenpo Tsewang has written two books of poetry; Ceaseless Waves of Devotion, and Special Praises and Devotional Breezes to the Accomplished Masters of Tibet. The latter title deals with the twenty-five original students of Padmasambhava. He has also completed a two-volume cultural and religious history of Tibet entitled Gratitude for and Commemorations to the Early Masters and Dharma Patrons of Tibet, which was encouraged and appreciated by H. H. Dudjom Rinpoche. This covers the fifth to ninth centuries and relates how Buddhism came to Tibet. It included the life stories of the translators and early masters, the politics of the kings, and lists of the translations and composed texts from the period. He is also the author of the English language title Lion's Gaze.