This book contains a complete translation of the text of the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra and a detailed commentary on it, given by the 14th Dalai Lama during his teachings in 2001. The Heart Sutra is a teaching about deep wisdom based on the insight of emptiness presented in a brief, abstract form “external” phenomena and individual selfhood. His Holiness the Dalai Lama explains how to avoid misunderstanding these categories and shows that realizing emptiness does not lead to nihilistic denial, but to a new vision of reality and genuine compassion. In the process of explanation, a broad overview of the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism is given, from preliminary practices to the subtleties of philosophical analysis of the Prasangika Madhyamaka school.