A Musing on the Chairs
An amphitheatre style of seating follows the basic principle that every chair faces the center
of the stage. Once the center section is established, the left and right (facing the stage)
sections will flow naturally. The side sections will follow the same pattern but may not
necessarily line up directly as continuations of the center rows.
Build the row closest to the stage first. Align three armless chairs centered on the altar and far
enough back to allow someone to sit in the chair while another person can pass between them
and the bottom step of the platform. Remove the single chair in the center to set the space to
begin the center aisle. Establish the first row with four chairs on each side, alternating armed
and armless, curving the row so that each chair is equidistant from the first step of the
platform.
The following four rows back in the center section will each contain one more chair than the
row in front of it. Begin each row with armless chairs on the center aisle. Separate these
chairs just a little bit wider apart for each successive row such that the last row has a center
aisle almost two chair spaces wide. Continue alternating armed and armless chairs. As you
add chairs to each row, building from the center to the outside edges, align the front corners
of the chairs and turn each chair so it faces the center of the stage.
Going deeper, the armless chairs have a slightly shorter footprint. So, when you are aligning
the chairs in a row, alternating armed and armless, if you tuck the front legs of the armless
chairs just behind the front legs of the adjacent armed chairs, this will naturally create an
arching effect, curving the rows as they face the center of the stage. This will also result in
the rear legs lining up nicely.
To provide enough space in front of each chair to allow passage in the row, walk the rows
working from the front to the back. Adjust the spacing so that passage is easy but no excess
space is left. This will allow five rows and space to pass behind the last row.
Rows in the side sections will continue to curve to face the center of the stage according to
the pattern in the following table:
Row
number
1
2
3
4
5
Chairs in center
sections
4/4
5/5
6/6
7/7
8/8
Chairs in east
wing
2
3
4 or 5
5 or 7
7 or 8
Chairs in west
wing
2
3
5
6 or 7
This provides seating for about one hundred. Fewer rows are used on the west side section to
allow for more space to congregate in the hospitality area.
After Sunday service and the hall is generally cleared walk the rows to remove any papers,
cups or water bottles and realign the chairs to prepare for the Buddhist meditation at four
PM.
All of the chairs in the west wing and west center sections will be stacked before 8am
Tuesday Tai Chi Practice; armed chairs are stacked four high; armless chairs, five high.
A Musing on the Chairs
Stacked chairs are placed under the south windows and by the west side back door, but not
blocking the exit door on the right side. Take care when stacking to carefully align each chair
directly on top of the chair beneath it. This will facilitate unstacking as chairs which are
misaligned can be difficult to separate. If this occurs the stack can be laid horizontally on the
floor to help separate them.
After Tai Chi Practice on Tuesday morning, thirty armless chairs are arranged in a large circle
on the hospitality side of the room for the Tuesday night Abraham discussion group. Spiral
one section of the circle inward to create a smaller open circle of about fifteen chairs to be
used by the Tuesday afternoon book study.
Coordinate with other groups who do not meet as regularly to assess their seating needs.
They will benefit from your practice with the chairs.
The chairs are made of stardust just like you and I. Their atoms could have participated in
humanity at some point. I sure they contain an oxygen atom breathed by Mohammed, Rumi
or Jesus.
When someone instructs you that “this” is the way, remember that the way is infinite.
Nothing gets “better” without change and better is only “different” according to the need of
the moment.