Introduction This critical writing assignment undertakes to review and critique three sources that relate to how and why women in ancient India became Buddhists. The first article is written by Reverend Patti Nakai and titled Women in Buddhism while the second article is written by Swarna de Silva and titled Place of Women in Buddhism. The last article is written by Jamanadas K. and is titled Rise and Fall of Buddhist Nuns. Nakai’s article plays a great role in advancing my understanding of how Shakyamuni treated women and what actually shaped his opinion towards women. The article tries to teach Buddhist concepts of enlightenment and impermanence, what shaped Shakamuni’s interest in religion, and the role culture played in Shakamuni’s perception about women. De Silva’s article adds to my understanding of the topic as it portends that people’s understanding of Buddhism has been eroded by the addition of Brahmanic ideas that are alien to the original Buddhist thoughts. Regarding the place of women in Buddhism, it is interesting to note that Buddhism is not attached to any gender despite the fact that Buddha himself has historically been a man. It is interesting to note that Buddha discovered the universal law that bound all persons practicing Buddhism. Other aspects of Buddhism like the worship of relics, the conduct of Buddha’s pujas, and the cult of Buddha’s person were only introduced later in the Theravada and Mahayana. These practices can hardly be justified by Buddha’s discourses. Summary of Nakai’s Article Nakai (1) posits that anyone who intended to brand Buddhism as a sexist religion would have easily done so by quoting out of context passages from sutras. The author reckons that the spirit of Buddhism should bring together all beings whether female or male and in the process enlighten them. In addition, Nakai emphasizes that it is meaningless for one to confess to being a Buddhist if he or she does not subscribe to Buddhist teachings. The article sets the record straight by alluding that Shakyamuni Buddha’s aunt who played a greater role in his upbringing after his mother had passed on was indeed the first Buddhist nun. She was called Prajapati. The article sites circumstances when Shakyamuni is reported to have told his stepmother that women were mentally inferior and therefore lacked the mental capacity to practice and understand the teaching of non-attachment to self. This occurred after she had shown interest in becoming his disciple. Reverend Nakai reports that Shakyamuni instead suggested to her stepmother that home was the best place where she could practice Buddhism. Nakai reiterates that followers of Tibetan Buddhism in the US and America at large have taken center stage in discussing issues that touch on women. In fact, on several occasions, they have capitalized on Buddha’s denunciation of women. These groups of believers have gone further to advance arguments as to why Shakyamuni might have uttered such words to his own aunt saying that at that time, women were taken as objects that were only meant to breed, nurture, and entertain men. They advance that he was still very young to know the implications of his utterances and actions. His cultural conditioning