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

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

But for the first time in centuries, these nuns now have the chance to reach the same level

of ordination as Buddhist monks, to be fully ordained as Bikshunis or Gilongma.

This is the ultimate goal that every nun must have.

But the nuns never had this dream

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

For decades, a debate has raged over whether women in the Vajrayana branch of Buddhism

could be fully ordained.

But three years ago, Bhutan took the lead

and, in an historic ceremony, ordained 144 women.

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

There was this change from the nuns wearing burgundy

to wearing this beautiful golden colour

and that was quite stunning to see

because prior to that time obviously we'd only ever seen monks in Bhutan

wearing this colour.

And British Buddhist Emma Slade was among them.

I'm Julia Paul and this is the documentary from the BBC World Service.

For this episode of Heart and Soul, which explores stories of spirituality,

I'm talking to Emma about being a Buddhist in the UK and Bhutan,

her part in the historic ceremony, and what it's been like to break the glass ceiling in Buddhism.

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