Every summer since 1994, the Japanese Buddhist organization Rissho Kosei-kai has held an International Conference on the Lotus Sutra at a serene mountain location far from urban distractions. More than a dozen scholars of religious history, theology, and Buddhism join the conference each year, where under religious, cultural, and historical themes, they intensively discuss the Lotus Sutra, one of the most significant of Mahayana Buddhist scriptures which has had a profound influence on the peoples and cultures of East Asia. Although the opinions and comments expressed in this volume deal with the enduring 2,000-year-old sutra, they are relevant to the philosophical, ethical, sociological interests of many readers living today.