The Oakland Warm Pool is Now… Holds the Moon Quan Yin Water Temple!
Yunyan asked Daowu: “How does the Bodhisattva of Great Mercy use all those hands and eyes?”
Daowu said, “It’s like reaching behind you for a pillow in the night.”
Yunyan said, “I understand.”
“Really? What do you understand?”
“There are hands and eyes all over the body.”
Daowu said, “That’s nicely put, but it’s not the whole picture.”
Yunyan said, “How would you put it?”
Daowu said, “All through the body are hands and eyes.”
Blue Cliff Record, Case 89
bring me the rhinoceros and other zen koans that will save your life, John Tarrant, (Pacific Zen Institute)
January 2025Greetings, beloved community!
As we enter this Gregorian New Year, we reflect on the many blessings this past year has brought us: the lessons; the growth; the changes; the many ways that this place and these waters have held us in our healing and the healing of so many in a period of massive collective change. We welcome you all back to our sacred space this year with an abundance of emerging offerings and an invitation to help make our work more sustainable in the years to come.
-James Jishin Anthony & Seh-reum Tom, Temple Co-stewards
JANUARY EVENTS
water bodies: a monthly queer circle
JANUARY 2 · 7-10 PM
Intro to Aquatic Peer-to-Peer Bodywork Class (Triad Round)
JANUARY 4, 11, 18, 25 · 10 AM-1 PM
Dry-Land Koan Meditation (free/dana based)
JANUARY 5 · 9-10 AM
age 55+ open community float time
JANUARY 10 · 10 AM - 1 PM
the water remembers us: a monthly QTBIPOC/PGM circle
JANUARY 10 · 6-9 PM
creative wellspring: a monthly experimental group
JANUARY 17 · 6-9 PM
clarity, consent & curiosity: aquatic container culture & care pt. 1
JANUARY 18 · 2-5 PM
QTBIPOC/PGM Water Dragon Sangha Floating Meditation (free/dana based)
JANUARY 19 · 11 AM-12 PM
clarity, consent & curiosity: aquatic container culture & care pt. 2
JANUARY 19 · 2-5 PM
ancestors returning: a monthly BIPOC/PGM circle
JANUARY 23 · 6-9 PM
Sessions
For 1:1, 2:2, or 2:1 aquatic bodywork sessions, you may book with James and Seh-reum here on Acuity
If you are interested in receiving discounted sessions from student practitioners, or if you yourself are a new practitioner interested in joining our practice groups, or for general inquiries, please fill out our google form here.
This past year we dreamed up many visions to transform the temple space and made changes to the pool itself with the support of our beloved community: changing our name and our internal operating structures; clarifying the purpose and ethos of the pool; developing new meditation, connection, and healing offerings; transforming our garden space; replacing our broken pool heater; replacing the deteriorating rain tarp; replacing our winter pool insulation covers; cutting down one of the redwood tree relatives who had passed and holding ceremony for them; developing sliding scale and worktrade opportunities; and updating our website and scheduling platforms.
Thank you all for all your good work and support so far, and in the future, those who have been with us for the past 5 years and those who have just recently joined this community. We especially want to give a huge shoutout to all the amazing practitioners and facilitators whose creative work here has developed a deep well of healing in the temple since the beginning. We will continue adding details of their work on our website and in future newsletters. Meanwhile, please continue to support their offerings and encourage them to keep sharing their gifts. Please let us know if there are more things you want to see here at the temple in the coming months, and keep an eye out for even more new offerings we’ll announce later this season!
Some of our wishes for this coming year are: to continue making our space more accessible for community members with mobility access needs, including remodeling the garage to have an accessible bathroom and kitchen and to be a dry-land temple gathering meditation space; getting grant funding to subsidize our discounted community offerings and worktrade program to continue to make the pool more financially accessible; supporting training for those who historically have had less access to aquatic work; developing community accountability, safety & emergency preparedness protocols, and many other improvements.
This space has been a labor of love for us. This New Year’s Day is also James’ 63rd birthday. In celebration of life and this new cycle, we invite you all to participate and help sustain the work in the year(s) to come as we offer this sacred space of refuge in a time of collective uncertainty and possibility.
with love,
Holds the Moon
