Dear Lennart and Frank,
Thank you very much for both your prompt reply to my question. I appreciate your replies very
much. My knowledge in Buddhism is very shallow and I would like to seek further
explanations.
What I understand is that a Sima hall is a sacred building to the Sangha and we have to ensure that
we do not transgress any of the vinaya rules in building it. From my previous post, I've explained that
the local authorities / government prohibit us from erecting any building on an agricultural land. In
order to be able to erect any building on an agricultural land, we have to convert the status of the land
into religious or residential purpose from the local authorities. But, it usually takes a couple of years
for the authorities to approve the conversion.
So, we plan to go ahead in building the sima and getting the approval later. Hence, by doing so, we
have violated the laws of the local authorities (but usually the local authorities would not take any
actions unless they received complaints or any injuction from the public). Do you think we have
transgress any of the vinaya rules in building the sima without having the approval from the local
authorities in this situation?
Thanking you in anticipation. Sadhu.