Academy for Practical Spirituality
“Using the illusion of separating the practical from the spiritual to restore wholeness is an impossible task.”
Guiding Principles
BEZA is anchored on the precept that love and holistic regeneration are synonymous.
All learning is remembering the gift of who you are intended to be.
Our teachings impart no dogma or opinion. Students become aware of the limitations of formal education and social conditioning. They are encouraged to investigate all theory, speculative thought and perspectives inherited from others. We remind our students to engage the curriculum directly and to explore the veil that separates self from other. Students are invited to reawaken their boundless curiosity and remember their gift.
Our holistic approach to teaching works with all aspects of you.
We consider you inherently perfect, complete and full of potential – everything you are looking for is within you. We value the wholeness of your person: your thoughts, emotions, fears, demons and hopes. The true you is welcomed out and appreciated. Each student starts where they are, with all they have, in full acknowledgment of what they like and dislike, what they long for, and what they’re running away from. This is the starting place for transformation.
BEZA’s curriculum is practical and spiritual.
The spiritual applications you will learn are non-dogmatic, simple and practical. The practical learning is profoundly spiritual. Every act is a door to abundant, spontaneous creativity. Empowered and mindful, you will become your own master teacher.
Students can engage directly in private Heart Mentoring sessions, at Weekend Retreats, in our Daily Meditations and Weekly Talking Circles, or through a Rites-of-Passage curriculum which culminates in Teacher Training.
Student’s insights are individually honed, honoured and respected.
This leads to resiliency and flexibility of heart, body and mind.
Resiliency is acquire by building the tools for interpreting and responding from your own truth no matter the circumstance.
Flexibility is developed by growing wisdom through experience. Your unique ability to address unpredictable problems allows you to meet each moment with presence and confidence.
“Our ancestors lived an holistic life of resilient self-sufficiency and sacred sustainability. They did not separate practicality from spirituality… their methodology was their mythology.”- Nangaku
Key Pointers
- Practical Spirituality is a return to Mother Earth, to our indigenousity, sustainability, action, and sacred-interdependency with all beings.
- Indigenous (of the earth) cultures did not distinguish between myth and method. Their mythologies were their methodologies. In other words, their spirituality was practical, and their practicality was spiritual.
- Today, we divide our world into “mundane” and “sacred” – one elevated, the other subjugated. Using the illusion of separating the practical from the spiritual to restore wholeness is an impossible task. It can be traced back in history that when this separation began dis-ease, scarcity, strife, and war began.
- Everything early humans did was informed by the intelligence in Earth’s elemental bodies – water, fire, earth, nature & stone. The building blocks of life, these energies generate diversity, balancing and maintaining a complex web of natural wholeness. Our bodies and minds are formed from Earth’s elemental body – born as them. They are a part of every thought, emotion, tool and action. The medicine of the 5 bodies are gateways to our origination, to presence, and hence to our future.
- The practical spirituality you will learn at BEZA is not a dogmatic or intellectual pursuit. Our holistic curriculum is shared through application. You learn through experience, growing your own wisdom, and practice a life inclined toward unity. You will realize how your life purpose, relationship to abundance, peace and harmony are connected to the elemental energies that form the body and consciousness of the Earth and in you are deeply connected.
Questions & Answers
Who is Born as the Earth Zen Academy (BEZA)?
We are the first Academy on the African continent that offers authentic Zen Buddhist Teachings merged with Nature-Based Wisdom Teachings through our shamanic training.
BEZA is a school for living an embodied, enlightened relationship with your Inner Truth (Buddha); Mother Earth’s Wisdom (Dharma); and Ubuntu – the community of all beings (Sangha).
We are growing, reflecting a living model of nature’s generative wisdom. All teachings, collaborations, and participation occurs in an ecosystem of generously giving of our inherent abundance, talents, gifts and purpose. Together we are creating a new human story, and a New Earth.
How can I join?
Most of our training is hosted live online. We host regular in-person retreats at various locations.
How much does it cost?
The teachings are priceless. Hence they are offered without charge. We encourage you to offer a Dana Donation in exchange. Retreat accommodation and food etc. is priced to you at cost plus a Dana donation. One-one private sessions are offered on a sliding scale.