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A recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor by The National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations noted on the award for his "position as a leader and a teacher of peace, tolerance, and diversity". A monastic since the age of seven, Lama Pema is a student of His Holiness the Sakya Trizin and other teachers of the Sakya order of Tibetan Buddhism. A graduate of the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in Benares, India, he received his Acharya ( master's ) degree from Sanskrit University in 1980.

 In 1982, His Holiness the Sakya Trizin sent Lama Pema to teach in the United States as the first of the younger generation of Tibetan teachers of the Sakya Order. His humanitarian efforts include the creation of the first Braille system in the Tibetan language and the Vikramasila Foundation, programs of which include the Pema Ts'al ( Lotus Grove Schools ) in Nepal and India.