Bön shamanic tradition, founded by Tönpa Shenrab, is Tibet's oldest religious belief. Tönpa Shenrab is said to have been born in a legendary place, the land of Olmo Lung Ring. The principal seat of Bön culture and doctrine was the region of Mount Kailash, which is known as the land of Zhang Zhung.

The doctrines taught by Tonpa Shenrab are generally classified into two types:

The Four Portals and One Treasury, consisting in the doctrine of the White Water dealing with esoteric matters; the Black Water doctrine concerning narratives, magic, funeral rites and other rituals; the Land of Phan doctrine containing monastic rules and philosophical expositions; the Divine Guide doctrine containing the Great Perfection teachings; finally, the Treasury includes the essential aspects of all the four portals.

The Nine Ways of Bön consists in the Way of Prediction (sortilege, astrology, ritual and prognostication); the Way of the Visual World (the psychophysical universe); the Way of Illusion (rites for dispersing adverse forces); the Way of Existence (funeral and death rituals); the Way of a Lay Follower (the ten principles for wholesome activity); the Way of a Monk (the monastic rules); the Way of Primordial Sound (the integration of a practitioner into the mandala of highest enlightenment); the Way of Primordial Shen (the guidelines for the relationship with a tantric master); and, finally, the Way of Supreme Doctrine (the doctrine of Great Perfection or Dzogchen).