From the sleeping deck at Harbin Hot Springs, I can see the first
sun glancing on the ridge to the south. There are approximately 25 of us in
sleeping bags and colorful blankets on the deck. There are a surprising number
of mothers and children sleeping together on pads in the open air. Last night
in the large, main warm pool we watched the sun meld into twilight, then night.
The unique culture of this community and the physical beauty of the place are what have drawn me back to Harbin repeatedly. It's a haven in the wilderness of modernization, which has sprung up around a natural hot springs at the end of a road 10 miles away from Middletown, California and 2 1/2 hours northeast by car, through wine country, from San Francisco.
In a way Harbin is a place of dreams made real by the people who live here. There's gentleness among the residents and visitors, an alternative, colorfully clothed way of existence and thinking, a different way of life, and an interest in being naked with each other, which centers on the pools. The physical design of the five-pool area is spacious - 300 or 400 people can be here on a weekend with ease. All of Harbin, especially the pool area, blends with the hillside and is comfortably beautiful.
In the hills surrounding Harbin there live probably 100 or 200 residents who work in this unique community. Nudity, spiritual teachings, sarongs, batik, woven clothes, top knots, pendants, amulets, long hair, dread locks, yoga, hippie-culture-descendants and a relaxed way of living in a beautiful setting are integral to life here. The fig tree in full, glorious three-lobed leaf above the main pool adds to the marvelous qualities of this place.
The potted plants lining one wall of the pool,
As well as the forested hillside close to the main pool,
Make this place welcoming,
As does the view of the valley from the main pool, 
The people coming naked out of the changing area to shower,
The pastel colors of the walls separating the warm pool from the hot pool,
The whale's mouth in the hot pool room out of which the watery bounty of Harbin
flows,
The wind chimes in the tree near the cold pool,
The bouquets of flowers around the pools,
The ancient stone stairway leading up the hill to nowhere,
The colorful objects in the trees
And the opportunity to rest on the sun deck
And spend the night on the sleeping deck.
Down the path, the welcoming blue pools, open to the sky, are so inviting.
That Harbin allows people to come and camp by the creek and also provides visitors with an open, large deck specifically for sleeping is uniquely wonderful. In its 30 or so years of history -- Bob Hartman, now called Isvara, bought the land in the early 1970s -- it has had its personality conflicts. It must have attracted a very eclectic, interestingly weird group of people early on (and still does) but to this day it seems to have stayed pretty close to its roots, receiving people into a community where soaking and heart consciousness ideas of relaxation and release go hand and hand. Or at least getting away from it all and relaxing in an interesting place. It's the people, their ideas and way of thinking that makes this place unlike any other. There's an administrative structure at Harbin and the place makes money - between 2 and 3 million dollars a year when I last asked a year ago. The Harbin residents who work here cleaning the pool area, the 50 or so guest rooms and in the restaurant, cafe and health food store get paid about minimum wage, while people who sell their massage and Watsu (water dance) skills do better. But Harbin also, for example, will lease space for a restaurant or other businesses to long time residents to own and operate.
One woman in the changing room last night was saying to her friend how strongly some teachings at Harbin and how Harbin itself kept drawing her back to visit. Her friend told her there was a pipe circle coming up on Saturday night; I don't know whether her friend was leading the pipe circle or not.
Openness of body and openness of mind, relaxation of gender boundaries, Watsu or water dance and massage, all somehow part of California and west coast culture, are integral to Harbin. But cultural homogenization occurs here, as in any culture, - people look and think similarly and dress colorfully; there's jargon, and astrology here.
Harbin is incorporated as a nonprofit organization in the state of California, the 'Heart Consciousness' church. These tax benefits certainly help sustain the shared vision and way of life, which has shaped itself around the hot springs here.
The well-known hippie Wavy Gravy, after whom the Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavor was named, was visiting Harbin when I was there. He was talking to a young guy in the warm pool about how, in his recent book, he recommends handling a bad acid trip: RooT bEEr fLoaTs. It's a concentration thing: just having to get it together when you're tripping to go to the supermarket, find the ice cream and the root beer and then put the drink all together usually does the trick. He was also describing how when Ben and Jerry were developing the Wavy Gravy ice cream flavor, they would send him samples for his feedback and would use pseudonyms, like Jerry Polkowski, to prevent corporate spying. The package, filled with dry ice would often look like it was smoking. The UPS driver must have been very suspicious and puzzled.
Harbin June 14 2000 6:15am