Editing Bon (section)

== Types ==
As noted by Dmitry Ermakov, "the word Bön is used to denote many diverse religious and cultural traditions." Bon sources acknowledge this and Bon authors like Shardza Rinpoche (1859–1935), Pelden Tsultrim (1902–1973) and [[Lopön Tenzin Namdak]] use a classification of three types of "Bon". Modern scholars also sometimes rely on this classification, which is as follows:<ref name="Achard2015" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":24">Ermakov, Dmitry (2011) [https://www.academia.edu/40082950/B%C3%B6n_as_a_multifaceted_phenomenon_looking_beyond_Tibet_to_the_cultural_and_religious_traditions_of_Eurasia ''Bön as a multifaceted phenomenon:looking beyond Tibet to the cultural and religious traditions of Eurasia''], Presented at Bon, Zhang Zhung and Early Tibet Conference, SOAS, London, 10 September 2011</ref>

* Prehistoric Bon (''Gdod ma'i bon'') of Zhangzhung and Tibet. This is an ancient system of belief and ritual practice that is mostly extinct today. However, elements of it exist in various religious practices found in the Himalayas – mainly in the calling of fortune rituals (g.yang 'gug), the soul retrieval or re-call rituals (bla 'gugs) and the ransom rituals (mdos). Ermakov sees some similarities between this tradition and the Eurasian cult of the sky deer.<ref name=":24" /> 
* Eternal Bon (Yungdrung Bon), also called old Bon (Bon Nyingma), which is traced to the Buddha Tonpa Shenrab and other sages from Zhangzhung. These religions developed from the 8th to the 11th century and are similar to Nyingma Buddhism. It includes ancient elements which are pre-Buddhist (including the fortune, bla and ransom rituals).
* New Bon (Bon Sarma, Bonsar), a syncretic tradition which includes elements from Eternal Bon and Tibetan Buddhism, including the worship of the Buddhist figure [[Padmasambhava]]. This new movement dates from the 14th century and was mainly active in eastern Tibet.
Dmitry Ermakov also adds an extra category which he terms "mixed Bon" and which he defines as:<ref name=":24"/>

{{blockquote|...{{nbsp}}a blend of these three types of Bön in different proportions, often with the addition of elements from other religions such as Hinduism, Taoism, Himalayan Tribal religions, Native Siberian belief systems etc. Mixed Bön would include Secular Bön or the civil religion of the Himalayan borderlands studied by Charles Ramble in his ''The Navel of Demoness,'' as well as Buryatian Bѳ Murgel, from the shores of Lake Baikal, the religion of the Nakhi in Yunnan, and so on.}}