Through studying, contemplating and meditating on this Sutra we can gain a perfect understanding of the nature of reality; we can overcome hindrances and difficulties in our daily life; and finally we can overcome the obstacles preventing our full awakening, thereby attaining the perfect state of Buddhahood.〔''Heart of Wisdom: An Explanation of the Heart Sutra'' page 2, Tharpa Publications (4th. ed., 2001) ISBN 978-0-948006-77-7〕

Correct instructions and explanations of emptiness are essential; they help us to develop our wisdom gradually and joyfully. Emptiness cannot be understood overnight, it might take us a few years before we begin to get a feel for it, but if we have good instruction and the support of qualified teachers we can experience wonderful results that really transform our life for the better. See Heart of Wisdom by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso.〔Reiki Mastery: For Second Degree Students and Masters by David Vennells, page 133, O Books; illustrated edition (August 25, 2004) ISBN 978-1-903816-70-7〕

People and places and all our experiences appear real but in reality they are simply mental projections from within our own mind, just like a dream. This is a huge concept with many implications and opportunities for misunderstanding! Correctly understanding and experiencing this truty is the essence of the Buddhist path to enlightenment. The best way to really develop clear wisdom of what is being suggested here is to read books that deal specifically with this topic, like Heart of Wisdom by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso.〔Reiki Mastery: For Second Degree Students and Masters by David Vennells, page 44, O Books; illustrated edition (August 25, 2004) ISBN 978-1-903816-70-7〕

Tibetan scholar-monks such as Tenzin Gyatso or Geshe Kelsang Gyatso who teach extensively in the West ... use inherent existence (svabhavasiddhi) interchangeably with such terms as independent existence, intrinsic existence, substantial existence, intrinsic essence, or intrinsic self-nature to mean our most innate, unreflective and pragmatic belief about both subjective and objective phenomena.〔Synchronicity, Science, and Soulmaking: Understanding Jungian Synchronicity Through Physics, Buddhism, and Philosophy by Victor Mansfield, page 139, Open Court (December 31, 1998), ISBN 0-8126-9304-3〕

Einstein believed that objects exist independently in two ways. First, they are independent of our knowing or perception... Second, objects are independent of each other... The Tibetan Buddhist monk-scholar, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, echoes these same two forms of independence when he says, ''"If we are ordinary beings, all objects appear to us to exist inherently. Objects seem to be independent of our mind and independent of other phenomena."''〔''Heart of Wisdom'', page 29)〕 Although Einstein speaks for Western classical science and Geshe Gyatso speaks for an ancient Buddhist tradition, at a fundamental level they are addressing the same point. (Though of course they are arguing for opposite positions.)〔Synchronicity, Science, and Soulmaking: Understanding Jungian Syncronicity Through Physics, Buddhism, and Philosophy by Victor Mansfield, page 156, Open Court (December 31, 1998), ISBN 0-8126-9304-3〕

The Foundation Program is meant for serious students who want a guided study at a deeper level than they can get through the series of Lamrim talks, usually all pitched to a beginner's capacity, that normally constitute the fare of Western Dharma centers.〔''Buddhism in the Modern World'': Adaptations of an Ancient Tradition by Steven Heine page 232, Oxford University Press, USA (January 1, 2003)ISBN 0195146980〕