The underlying text of this commentary is a deeply inspired canon on ethics. This work is as groundbreaking as the New Testament but is born from an eastern perspective. It is hard to understand that this text is so little known in the west. I would rate this, along with the Sermon on the Mount and the Tao and Kant's categorical imperative, as one of the definitive works on ethics and spirtual insight. Part of the commentary is colored by Buddhist beliefs which I personally substract from its general message(as I would with Christian dogma from the New Testament). If you are looking for some kind of exotic, new age, feel good chanting sort of philosophy you should definitely skip this. This is one of the toughest prescriptions for ethical living that I've ever come across. This goes far beyond the Judeo-Christian call to "love thy neighbor as thyself" and calls for you to "offer all gain and victory to others while taking upon yourself all sufferings"- this especially applies to your enemies who you should be most thankful to since: "In particular, all those who hurt me are worthy of gratitude since they are my companions and helpers for gathering the accumulations of merit and pristine wisdom and for clearing away the obscurations of disturbing emotions and conceptual knowledge". Pretty strong stuff. If humans, with their vast technology but miniscule ethics, are not to go extinct during the next millenium, they are going to have to eventually follow a philosophy such as this. " Winner takes All " has gone about as far as it can in a world were the losers are armed with nuclear weapons.