Bön is the indigenous, pre-Buddhist culture and religion of Tibet. The Bön culture is an ancient one, tracing its roots back over 18,000 years. The Bön religion was founded in what scholars believe is present-day Iran, by Shenrab Miwo. The Bön religion was later introduced into what is now Tibet.

Monasteries, which were both religious centers and centers of learning, were established throughout what is now Tibet, part of China, and the greater Himalaya region. The Bon culture declined after the conversion of Tibet to Buddhism in the 8th Century. From the 8th Century to the 11th Century the Bon religion and culture existed in Tibet as a minority culture, and many important religious texts were hidden or lost. Bön experienced a “renaissance” in the 11th Century, when many lost texts were found, and the teachings of those texts became known. In the 14th Century , Menri Monsatery in Tibet became the seat of the Bön religion.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama as recently acknowledged Bön as one of the main religious traditions of Tibet, and has acknowledged certain Bon leaders as important repositories of the true Tibetan culture.

The Bön now live throughout the greater Himalaya region, in Tibet, India, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan. Most of them are engaged in farming or handicrafts.

In 1959 many Bön, along with other Tibetans, fled Tibet. A Bon settlement was established at Dolanji, in Himachal Pradesh, northern India. Many Bön who came directly from Tibet, as well as those who came via Nepal, settled in Dolanji.

A new Menri Monastery was established in Dolanji in 1967 as the center of the Bön religion and learning.