The essence of the lam-rim are the three principal pathways of the mind or ways of understanding that are graded in the order in which we develop them. The three pathways are renunciation or the determination to be free from the all-pervasive suffering of uncontrollably recurring rebirth, a bodhichitta aim or the aspiration to be able to achieve enlightenment to benefit others, and a correct understanding of voidness or reality.