The Bön teachings imparted by Tönpa Sherab are presented in various ways and with different classifications in the three written accounts of Tönpa Shenrab's life. Shenrab is said to have expounded Bön in three successive cycles of teachings:

First he expounded the "Nine Ways (or successive stages of practice) of Bon"; then he thought the "Four Bon Portals and the Fifth, the Treasury"; finally he revealed the "Outer, Inner, and Secret Precepts".