Sīmā

sīmā (T. mtshams; C. jiejie 結界). An area demarcated by the saṅgha which then functions as the community’s borders. Such boundaries may be set to define the area monastics are confined to during the rains retreat, or for the semi-monthly purification ceremony (upoṣadha), etc.

A gathering of all the monastics within these boundaries constitutes a “consensus,” during which formal acts of saṅgha may be performed.

In Buddhist tantra, the sīmā refers to the boundaries that the tantric practitioner defines for a retreat involving tantric practices.

Sources

• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University