dressed the other religions. The closest reference to addressing other religions was when the Buddha critiqued the Vedic system with his Fire Sermon (Buddha, 127). Although he would frequently convert people of other religions and practices, many were on the quest for spiritual enlightenment turned an open ear to the Buddha and his message. It was then that he put himself in his listeners position and preached his dhamma in a way that all could understand, and accordingly, enter his sangha.The Buddha would also recant previous statement and make adjustments that were best fitting for his religious message. One of the clearest examples of this was in regard to admitting women into the Order. When the Buddhas aunt (and his foster-mother when his mother died) Pajāpatī came to visit him and requested to join the sangha, the Buddha adamantly refused. There was no question of admitting women to the Order. He would not change his mind, even though Pajāpatī begged him three times to reconsider and she left his presence very sadly (Buddha, 151-152). The Buddha said that women were a source of the desire that his followers were trying to eliminate, so their entrance would make things very difficult for the remainder of the sangha. Other women continued to plead for acceptance into the Order, and if the Buddha continued to refuse them, it was equivalent to saying only men could achieve enlightenment. After another request from one of his closest friends who pointed out that if women could become stream-enterers and eventually Arahants, they should be ordained, the Buddha reluctantly conceded defeat (Buddha, 152). Now women could enter the sangha, but under strict rules. This incident serves as an example of how the Buddha, as the leader of the sangha, would have to recant a previous statement and adjust it to more accurately state his dhamma and religious message.As Muhammad and the Buddha set out on their religious...
