Heart and Soul: Becoming a Buddhist Bhikshuni in Bhutan

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  In the small Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, young Buddhist nuns are preparing to meditate.

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  Around a thousand girls and women like these live in nunneries, often in remote areas.

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  But for the first time in centuries,

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  these nuns now have the chance to reach the same level of ordination as Buddhist monks,

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  to be fully ordained as Bhikshunis, or Gelongma.

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  This is the ultimate goal that every nun must have.

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  But the nuns never had this dream because it was understood

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  that they are not able to and it's not possible.

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  For decades,

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  a debate has raged over whether women in the Vajrayana branch of Buddhism could be fully ordained.

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  But three years ago, Bhutan took the lead and in an historic ceremony, ordained 144 women.

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  This is the patched cloth that goes with the full ordination.

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  There was this change from the nuns wearing burgundy to wearing this beautiful golden color.

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  And that was quite stunning to see because prior to that time,

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  obviously we'd only ever seen monks in Bhutan wearing.

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