 He identified closely with Milarepa's mountain existence since Brancusi himself came from the Carpathian Mountains of Romania and he often thought of he was a reincarnation of Milarepa.He was a saint-like  idealist and near ascetic, turning his workshop into a place where visitors noted the deep spiritual atmosphere.However, particularly through the 1910s and 1920s, he was known as a pleasure seeker and merrymaker in his bohemian circle.