Please carefully read ALL of the following important information about how to make your seat reservation.
SEATING
Seating will be on the floor, so you are advised to bring a cushion/mat for comfort. If you require a chair or stool, you must bring your own as these will not be provided. If you must sit in a chair/stool, please be considerate of others by placing it in a location that will not block others’ view, such as in front of a pillar or next to a wall.
Foreign attendees will be seated together in the Foreigners’ Seating Area in various sections according to translation language.
All foreign attendees are requested to not sit in seats designated for the Tibetan sangha (monks and nuns) and to not sit in a translation section unless you are listening to that particular translation. Otherwise, there will not be enough seats for those attendees who must sit near their translators.
Hindi, Chinese, English, Mongolian, Russian and Vietnamese listeners can hear their translation anywhere within the Foreigners’ Seating Area. French, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Spanish listeners must sit near their translator in order to hear their translation via short-distance FM transmitter.
SEAT RESERVATIONS
The teaching venue will open at 5pm (evening) on 22 December for you to reserve your seat. The closing time for the seat reservation is not yet confirmed, so you should arrive as close to 5pm as possible. You may reserve your seat with a cushion, cloth, piece of cardboard, or something similar.
As stated on www.dalailama.com: Seating is usually reserved on a first come – first serve basis…. The conventional practice amongst Tibetans is that you mark your seat with a cushion or piece of cloth, and thereafter, keep to that same seat for the duration of the teachings. This is how Tibetans have traditionally avoided hassling with each other over who sits where every day…. Usually, people come to the teaching venue 1 or 2 days before the teaching begins to reserve their seating space.