Bon presents a complete religious universe, with its own cosmology, deities, and paths of practice that both parallel and differ from Tibetan Buddhism. Its cosmos is multi‑layered, including heavens, human realms, and underworlds populated by gods, spirits, elemental forces, and ancestral beings, all arising from a primordial, empty yet luminous ground. At the center of its sacred history stands Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche, regarded as the founding enlightened teacher and primary source of its scriptural and ritual traditions. The pantheon includes peaceful and wrathful deities, mountain gods, protector spirits, and figures such as Sipe Gyalmo, all woven into a vision where visible and invisible worlds constantly interpenetrate. This vision is accompanied by a strong reverence for nature and sacred landscapes, and by a concern for harmonious relations with local spirits and environmental forces.

The path in Bon is often articulated through the Nine Ways (Theg pa rim dgu), which range from very practical, worldly concerns to the most subtle contemplative teachings. These include divination and astrology, healing and exorcistic rites, funerary and bardo practices, and ethical frameworks for lay followers and monastics. Higher vehicles employ mantra, visualization, subtle‑body yogas, and tantric methods, culminating in the Supreme Way of Dzogchen, where the nature of mind is recognized as pure, luminous, and empty. Alongside this ninefold structure, Bon also speaks of three ways—cause, result, and non‑way—roughly comparable to graded paths of renunciation, compassion, and direct realization. Across these vehicles, the law of karma, the reality of rebirth in various realms, and the possibility of complete liberation from cyclic existence provide the overarching doctrinal horizon.

Ethical and ritual life in Bon is correspondingly rich and nuanced. Compassion, non‑violence, truthfulness, generosity, and respect for all forms of life are emphasized, supported by lay and monastic vows and the avoidance of non‑virtuous actions such as killing and stealing. Rituals include offerings, smoke and water offerings, prayer flags, mantras, mudras, mandalas, and seasonal ceremonies aimed at healing, protection, and restoring balance between humans, spirits, and the natural world. Practices such as Dzogchen meditation, Chöd‑like cutting through of egoic clinging, and elaborate shamanic rites are transmitted through carefully maintained lineages. In this way, Bon integrates indigenous Tibetan spiritual elements with sophisticated contemplative and philosophical teachings, offering a path that moves from propitiating local deities and ensuring worldly well‑being to the direct realization of the nature of mind and the cessation of suffering.