Literally meaning 'the gradual path' or 'the stages of the path', the word is used to refer both to the graduated path to enlightenment and also the texts which outline such a systematic path. The texts dealing with this theme outline the entire path to enlightenment within the framework of what are known as the three levels of the path, corresponding to the trainees of initial, middling and great capacities. Although the sources for such writings can be traced to the original Mahayana sutras, the first text to be explicitly associated with this 'three scope' approach was Atisha's Lamp For The Path of Enlightenmen. Based on this work, an entire corpus of literature emerged in Tibet which became collectively known as Lamrim. These writings later became the dominant manuals on practice among the followers of the Kadam and Gelug traditions. Other traditions also incorporate Lamrim within them, as, for example, in the elaborate exposition of the nine yanas; and the salient tenets of Lamrim are synthesized within the preliminary practices of tantric meditation according to all schools.