Spring & Summer at Holds the Moon Quan Yin Water Temple
“The coin lost in the river is found in the river.” —PZI Miscellaneous Koans, Case 64
“The sun and moon are travelers in eternity. Even the years are wanderers. For those whose life is on the waters or leading a horse through the years each day is a journey and the journey itself is home.”
—Matsuo Bassho
https://tarrantworks.com/2010/03/10/11-the-coin-lost-in-the-river/
Greetings, beloved community!
As the weather gets warmer, the days get longer and the seeds we’ve planted are starting to sprout and buds are starting to blossom, we invite you to breathe deeply with us through the changes. We made it through a strong eclipse season and Mercury and Venus retrograde. In this waxing moon, we listen for what our inner waters are drawing up to the surface, reaching toward the sun. We look forward to seeing you soon in the temple for meditation & healing.
May Day--mid-spring, and the temple is growing. Holds The Moon is both a Zen Buddhist meditation temple (in our little Zendo in the midst of garage transformation) and an aquatic meditation and healing pool. (See our Zendo sitting meditation schedule and aquatic offerings, below.) And please hold the date for our temple re-consecration ceremony and community celebration this summer, Sunday July 6 at 10:00 am with James's Zen teacher Steven Grant Roshi.
-James Ji-shin Anthony & seh-reum tom, Temple Co-stewards
SPRING & SUMMER EVENTS
weekly sitting meditation (dry-land)
EVERY MONDAY · 7-8:30 PM (starting May 5th) in the Zendo*
Sitting meditation with James is in the Pacific Zen Institute (www.pacificzen.org) style: some simple instruction, a koan for the group, some silent meditation, and then some tea and conversation, a little more meditation perhaps, and then the four vows.
*the Zendo is the garage in transformation
by donation
water babies: a monthly queer circle
JUNE 5, JULY 3 · 7-10 PM
Intro to Aquatic Peer-to-Peer Bodywork Class (Triad Round)
MAY 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, JUNE 21, 28 · 10 AM-1 PM
age 55+ Intro to Aquatic Peer-to-Peer Bodywork Class (Triad Round)
EVERY TUESDAY · 10AM-1PM (starting May 6th)
ancestors returning: a monthly BIPOC/PGM circle
MAY 16, JUNE 16 · 6-9 PM
QTBIPOC/PGM Water Dragon Sangha Silent Floating Meditation (free/dana based)
MAY 17 · 9-10 AM
A silent floating meditation space with minimal facilitation and dharma sharing at the end
the water remembers us: a monthly QTBIPOC/PGM circle
MAY 29, JUNE 19 · 7:30-10 PM
clarity, consent & curiosity: aquatic container culture & care pt. 1
MAY 17 & JULY 19· 2-5 PM
*while this is a workshop offered as a requirement for new facilitators & practitioners before sharing their practice here in the temple, it is also open to any participants who are interested in embodied consent practices within aquatic work
please take part 1 before taking part 2
(This workshop is influenced and inspired by the Wheel of Consent® as developed by Dr. Betty Martin. We have trained with the School of Consent and have permission to share these practices, but are not yet certified facilitators. For more information visit www.schoolofconsent.org.)
clarity, consent & curiosity: aquatic container culture & care pt. 2
JUNE 18 & AUGUST 16· 2-5 PM
*while this is a workshop offered as a requirement for new facilitators & practitioners before sharing their practice here in the temple, it is also open to any participants who are interested in embodied consent practices within aquatic work
please take part 1 before taking part 2
(This workshop is influenced and inspired by the Wheel of Consent® as developed by Dr. Betty Martin. We have trained with the School of Consent and have permission to share these practices, but are not yet certified facilitators. For more information visit www.schoolofconsent.org.)
Temple Re-Consecration Ceremony & Community Celebration
JULY 6 · 10AM-1 PM
And please hold the date for our temple re-consecration ceremony and community celebration this summer, Sunday July 6 at 10:00 am with James's Zen teacher Steven Grant Roshi.
NEW PRACTITIONERS SPOTLIGHT!
(each month we will be highlighting one of the aquatic practitioners or facilitators in our community directory)
Max Shannon (He/Him)
Max is a practitioner and facilitator who has been practicing water therapy since 2020. Motivated to share the experience of a water session, he has traveled internationally studying Watsu, Waterdance and Aguahara techniques. Max’s goal is to attune to each individual body and provide a session with the safety required to move deeper and commune with what the water bring us.
You can book a session with Max by contacting him at maxtheshannon@gmail.com
COMING SOON !
Keep an eye out for more offerings emerging this season including a Grief Circle, a Post-Ceremony Somatic Integration Support Circle, a Birthworkers Circle, and an offering combining the Art of Circling® with aquatic work, and also our three new active beehives in the front (please be mindful and let us know if you are allergic to bees!)
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.
We are diligently working toward our goals for this year and are open to receiving community support toward them:
to continue making the temple more accessible for community members with mobility access needs, including remodeling the garage to have an accessible bathroom and kitchen, and to be an expanded dry-land temple gathering meditation space, apothecary & teahouse;
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;
updating & developing community accountability, safety, emergency preparedness protocols
urban beekeeping and further care for the temple garden
Many hands & hearts make this work possible and we thank you for supporting us in all the ways you do! We welcome donations to help us sustain our work in the seasons to come so we can continue to offer this as a sacred space of refuge in these times of great collective uncertainty and possibility.
with love,
Seh-reum & James at Holds the Moon Temple
