Akong – A Remarkable Life tells the story of Akong Tulku Rinpoche, Tibetan Buddhist master, compelled to flee his homeland at the height of Sino-Tibetan tensions and forced into exile into unknown lands. Later he would become, along with Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, one of the key pioneers of Tibetan Buddhism in the West.
At a young age, Akong becomes the Abbot of Dolma Lhakang monastery in Eastern Tibet and the path of his life seems fixed. However, political turmoil changes everything as in 1959 he is reluctantly forced to flee his homeland on a dangerous journey whose end is uncertain.
During the ten month escape across the Himalayas to India, Akong comes close to death, being one of only 13 of 300 compatriots to survive the arduous journey. As he lay, near death, in a cave in the Himalayas, he makes a promise that, if he survives, he will devote his life to helping others.
He makes it to India only to battle life-threatening tuberculosis. There Akong meets an Englishwoman, Freda Bedi, who runs a refugee camp in harrowing conditions. Together they create a home for young refugee Lamas, which Akong manages for three years until Freda arranges for him to travel to Britain along with his friend Trungpa Rinpoche.