Karma Norbu was a great Mahasiddha, meaning “great accomplished one” or Drupchen (sgrub chen) in Tibetan) who was traditionally trained in and accomplished the Karma Kagyu path - including the 6 Yogas of Naropa. He accomplished this full path before the Cultural Revolution. After the Chinese occupation, those who knew him could not find Karma Norbu, as he had established himself in a cave at a nearby mountain.

In 1980 the Chinese government started allowing people to engage in a little bit of Dharma practice and the government also began to release many Rinpoches from prison. Many monasteries started a rebuilding process. Every Rinpoche in Tibet also began looking for great Masters that had survived the revolution. Sure enough, someone found Karma Norbu.

At that time Karma Norbu was living in a cave surrounded by a rock edifice -- this is where many disciples came to receive teachings, instructions directly from him. The journey to Karma Norbu's cave (from Gargon) took about 6 days and had to be done on horseback. Many practitioners, monks went there to receive ordination and teachings from him.