Tim began his Buddhist studies in 1977 under the late Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in Boulder, Colorado. In 1981 Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, was invited to teach in Boulder. Profoundly moved by him, Tim and his family moved just a few months later to Kathmandu to study with Tulku Urgyen and his sons. During the twelve years that he lived in Nepal, Tim studied with many of the older teachers living there and worked as a psychotherapist serving the international community. In 2000, Tim moved to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia at the invitation of Pema Chödrön, where he served for three years as the director of Gampo Abbey. He is the founder and president of the Pema Chödrön Foundation, which supports monastic training and communities in need around the world.

In 2003, after a visit by Mingyur Rinpoche to Gampo Abbey, Tim founded the Yongey Foundation to support and promote Mingyur Rinpoche’s activities in the West. Since its inception, Tim has been one of the five instructors for Mingyur Rinpoche’s worldwide meditation community, Tergar International. Tim lives with his wife Glenna in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where he leads an active community that follows Mingyur Rinpoche’s teachings and those of his family lineage.