The Khyungpo clan dates back at least to the Yarlung Dynasty, as a number of royal priests to the Yarlung kings were from the Khyungpo clan. The origin myth of the clan goes back to a legendary ancestor, the Great Eagle (khyung chen), an emanation of a mythical Buddha of the upper realm. When this eagle flew back to the heavens, he left behind four eggs: white, black, yellow and green. The youths hatched from the first three eggs originated the Khyungpo tribes of Karu, Nakru, and Sertsa. The fourth youth, Khyungpak Tramo, went to Gyarong where he originated the sub-clans of Lhakhyung, Mukhyung, and Khyunggotsok. The Khyungpo clan is usually associated with the Bon tradition, but it also produced Buddhist masters such as Milarepa and Khyungpo Neljor, the founder of the Shangpa Kagyu tradition, among other luminaries. The clan is associated with Khyungpo Tengchen Monastery.