Bön, the indigenous faith of the Tibetan and Himalayan people, is relatively unknown among the religions of the world. Lord Tönpa Shenrab is the founder of the Bön religion. Tönpa Shenrab's teachings are collectively known as Yungdrung Bön or the Tradition of Eternal Wisdom, and include the Nine Ways of Bön that outline the laws of cause and effect on the path of spiritual liberation. Bönpo (practitioners of Bön) believe their culture to have originated in the land of Olmo Lungring (located in the larger country of Tazig, a region probably to the west of present-day Tibet), and that it flourished as it moved eastward through the Kingdom of Zhang Zhung, which made up much of what is now western Tibet.
 
The ancient roots of the Bön religion derive from a profound respect for nature and emphasize healing in both the physical and the environmental sense, as well as leading the mind from the mundane to the higher and deeper world of the divine, transforming mere existence into an experience of living with wisdom and compassion. As Indian Buddhism was being established in Tibet, many native Bön elements were incorporated into the incoming religion, resulting in a distinct religion known today as Tibetan Buddhism. In turn, Buddhist influences are abundantly evident in the Bön religion as it currently exists. The two religions are distinct in many ways, but share a strong and identical commitment to end all suffering. Although they both trace their origins to ancient times, Bön is a living doctrine dedicated to perpetuating the teachings of its founder Tönpa Shenrab, who lived about eighteen millennia ago, whereas the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism (Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, Gelug) trace their roots back to Shakyamuni Buddha, who was born about two and a half millennia ago in the north of India (in a location that now falls within the borders of Nepal).
 
Bön monasteries have survived throughout Tibet despite long periods of persecution. With the present Dalai Lama's public recognition of Bön as both the native religion of Tibet and one of its five core spiritual traditions the Bön religion is taking its rightful place as an integral part of Tibetan culture, both historically and in the present day. This reinforces how crucial it is for the current generation of Bön practitioners and scholars to preserve the teachings of this precious wisdom tradition.