Why did the Buddha at first refuse to admit woman as nun
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if not for Ananda clever probing to the Buddha that, women is capable of wisdom and enlightenment. Ananda really deserved a mention here. The nuns should really thanked him for asking the Buddha this.
What I want to know is, why the Buddha initially refuse to accept his stepmother when she said she wish to be a nun and asked the Buddha to admit her. any explanation on this?
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This is the main reason - because of political mind. For renouncement, the objective is important, otherwise, it causes more harm than good personally, to future of sangha and to all wellness.
Eventually, Pajapati decided that women should have the same opportunity that men had. She went to the Buddha, who was in Kapilavatthu at the time, and said to him "It would be great, Lord, if women were allowed to renounce their homes and enter into the homeless state under the dharma and the discipline of the Tathagata." She continued, "We want to renounce too, we want to follow the path as well. Will you allow it?"
And the Buddha's reply was, "Don't set your heart on women being able to do this."
She asked two more times. And two more times the Buddha refused. Pajapati bowed respectfully and left in tears. But that wasn't the end of it.
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maybe Buddha has his own reasons but since he was omniscience, he should have known that Buddha's in the past did accepted female disciples. I feel that he shouldnt have discriminate males nor females initially. males can be females and females can be males in rebirth. perhaps he has his reasons which he didnt elaborate.
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It was not discrimination but she was not ready to uphold her own justice
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can study the Vinaya to get some answer.
Buddhists in Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, and Thailand follow the Theravadin Vinaya, which has 227 rules[1] for the bhikkhus and 311[2] for the long defunct bhikkhunis. Buddhists in China, Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam follow the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (四分律),[3][4] which has 250 rules[5] for the bhikkhus and 348 rules[6] for the bhikkhunis.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinaya
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@Amitayus48.......
//And the Buddha's reply was, "Don't set your heart on women being able to do this."//
The Buddha said that?