Jetsunma Chime Tenpa’i Nyima was born in Sakya. Her father was Ngawang Tutob Wangchuk, who was the younger brother of Sachen Kunga Lodro, the thirty-first Sakya throne holder.

From a very young age, she studied with her illustrious paternal uncle, Kunga Lodro. Sachen Kunga Lodro bestowed on her all the teachings concerning Vajrayoginī as well as the transmissions of the Lamdré Tsogshed and Lobshed. She became very learned and a holder of several lineages including this one and “Parting from the Four Attachments.” She is the only female master in the Sakya Vajrayoginī lineage.

When she was twenty-six years old, in 1782, she took novice vows from the twenty-fifth abbot of the Sakya Lhakhang Chenmo, Jampa Chokyi Tashi.