Born as the Earth Zen Academy, NPC (BEZA)

The Way of the Wisdom Keeper

A brief history and relevancy of BEZA’s Medicine Wheel

BEZA’s Medicine Wheel is inherited from Daraga Elders Malidoma Somé and Iro Somé from Burkina Faso, West Africa with whom Nangaku studied and was initiated as an Elder, shaman & diviner. Most medicine wheels around the world are based on 4 elements and 4 directions. While BEZA works with the 4 directions, what makes BEZA’s wheel unique is a 5th, central element which anchors the wheel around an orienting center – Home, the point of departure and place of return, the Self.

Nangaku recently discovered that Daoist geomancers of ancient China also used this rare and unusual medicine wheel in their cosmology.

Indian Buddhism merged with Chinese Daoism and Chan was born. Nanyue Huairang (677-744), a Chinese Chan Master lived in the time and region where Chan was forming and was inspirational in forming the Rinzai Zen lineage. Nanyue took on the name of one of the Five Sacred Mountains that root the geomancy of the Chan cosmology and its medicine wheel. Chinese ‘Nanyue’ translates as Southern Mountain. Chan spread throughout China and travelled eastward to Japan becoming Zen.

In 2022 near Cape Town, a city known for its majestic Table Mountain, Nangaku received his monastic name from Soto Zen Master Seido Suzuki Roshi when he was ordained. ‘Nangaku’ also translates as Southern Mountain. At the time of his ordination Nangaku had been using the Dagara Medicine Wheel since 2008 and was not aware of its Chinese counterpart, its connection to Zen, or the spiritual name he would receive.

Nangaku is in the early stages of forming a new ‘African’ Zen school in South Africa and uses the above mandala to connect the growing community of spiritual seekers to their True Nature.

There are 5 Elemental Intelligences, or Medicines in the BEZA Medicine Wheel. These Elements are the foundational, energetic building blocks of all life on earth. Finders, Initiates, Apprentices & Students devote their learning activity and attention to the power of one of Mother Earth’s Elemental Bodies at a time. Each Elemental Module lasts approximately two months. It takes about a year to complete one cycle around the Wheel.

Enter the Elemental Gates

Authentic Transformation through Two Training Tracks

“Love the path you find and you’ll find the path you love.” … Nangaku

Guest Track

The Guest Track offers an introduction to our curriculums, teachers, and community. Engage any of these Gateways and/or progress to Advanced Training.

Advanced Training Tracks

By selecting either of these monthly subscriptions: The FINDER; The INITIATE; The APPRENTICE; or The STUDENT TRACK, you will receive various levels of engagement and guidance from the experienced mentorship of Initiated Elder and Senior Zen Monk Ekan Nangaku.