Apprentice Training
Medicine of NATURE Module

Medicine of NATURE Module

by | Jun 24, 2024 | Events

Medicine of NATURE Module

Way of Medicine

3 August – 15 September 2024

Applications close 21st July

Read the signs around you. Meet unpredictability with authenticity and curiosity. Trust your medicine to meet revolutionary moments with truth. In this Module we study medicine gifts; transformation; the trickster; authentic expression; transformation; shapeshifting and truth.

In a world so stripped of originality and authentic expression, we have all at some point forgotten our most precious gift – the Truth of who it is who we are.

A peaceful future relies on this rediscovery and remembering of our Truth. Each of our individual remembering contributes to the collective recollection.

A group of deeply curious and dedicated BEZA Students and Apprentices will embark on an 8 week deep dive into their authentic medicine.

This training is for committed ones who are eager to uncover their authentic selves and give the gift of their unwavering Truth to the world.

We will explore the subtle and spontaneous workings of Nature as a guide to bring you into a more intimate relationship with your originality and genuineness.

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Circle of Connection

Circle of Connection

by | Jun 20, 2024 | Circle of Connection, Events

Healing the Masculine and Feminine

To heal the pain in any existing divide between the masculine and feminine, and give practical expression to this Heart-Mind Way, Nangaku from BEZA and Svenja Krauer – an Alchemist of Change, invite you to a monthly online community council gathering called Circle of Connection.

Through the practice of speaking and listening from the heart, we invite you to participate in exploring the divine duality and unity of the Masculine and Feminine.

Collectively we aim to explore pathways for healing the divide and regenerate into newly constituted relationships of mutual support and empowerment.

Gather on the Third Thursday of every month.

You are invited to join the first Council on 22 August!

For integrity and sincerity in this special container, all participants must attend Council Training where we adopt safety protocols and agreements (all those who have already been trained in Community Council through BEZA are welcome to attend).

Financial commitment:

We suggest an affordable sliding scale between R100 and R300 per month, which will be stockpiled and used towards our bi-annual in-person gatherings. It also supports you in remaining committed to the monthly meetings

Join the next Council Training

To heal the pain in any existing divide between the masculine and feminine, and give practical expression to this Heart-Mind Way, Nangaku from BEZA and Svenja Krauer – an Alchemist of Change, invite you to a monthly online community council gathering called Circle of Connection.

“Nature depends on the merging of polarity for it to regenerate. Polarities, when fused create diversity. Unity and diversity owe their existence to each other. Unity is diversity, and diversity is unity, or: the Absolute is the Relative, and the Relative is the Absolute. The Middle Way of Zen and Daoism: Yin is Yang, Yang is Yin.”

Relative gender identification is a manifestation of the mind’s dual functioning. The simplicity of our primal human brain evolved into reliance and dependancy on the complexities of the now modern mind. As our collective minds define the intricacies of function and roles in a highly specialised world, so too has it conflated these into complex gender identities and realities. The essential function of the relative, dual nature of the masculine and feminine polarity appear to be diverging, and becoming more disconnected, estranged, and competitive.

The heart on the other-hand is by nature, non-dual. It does not prejudice, discriminate, separate, define or disconnect. The heart is the side of the coin whose function is to unite, to find similarity. It embraces and loves diversity. For the heart, the more difference, oddity, weirdness, the more opportunity it has to expand its love muscle. Absolute in its unconditionality, regardless of opposition, it tends energy toward wholeness and pure connection.

Uniting diversity of expression occurs through the heart. The differentiated opposites in the mind (Relative) are united through the unconditional, undifferentiated heart of oneness (Absolute). Bringing the Mind and Heart into synthesis celebrates diversity through connection.

** All those who have already been trained in Community Council through BEZA are welcome to attend.

Svenja Krauer

Svenja is an Alchemist of Change and a devoted mother of two wonderful children. She brings a wealth of powerful and beautiful practices into her work.

She is a certified Coach and Trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), a Certified Shamanic Practitioner, and the creator of the profoundly healing modality Tahira-na. Additionally, she is a Nia teacher, a cacao ceremony facilitator, and a guide for those navigating transformation.

Svenja’s heart swells with joy when she sees others stepping into their authentic power and healing. Her personal transformation over the past 14 years has inspired her to create a safe space for others to undergo similar journeys. She seamlessly integrates her project management expertise with a deep understanding of being truly present in the body, creating a harmonious dance of alchemy and change.

Zen Roots, Blossoms in Spring

Zen Roots, Blossoms in Spring

by | Jun 20, 2024 | Events

3 or 5 Day Zen Meditation Intensive

24 – 29 September 2024

Boschrivier Farm, Stanford, WC.

Join for 3 Days
Join for 5 Days

There are many ways of describing a Blossom. The unique experiences of practicing meditators see their own blossoming, each in accord with their vast interior landscape.

We live in many landscapes: emotional landscape, psychological, intellectual, artistic and spiritual landscapes. Most of us are concerned and engaged with a highly active, fast paced outer-landscape. What does your outer-landscape look like? How do you identify with it? What parts of it are you attracted to, and what aspects are you avoiding?

What you are experiencing is a projection in the mirror of your ego mind-scape.

During Sesshin, we employ the 2500 year old Buddhist technology of zen meditation (zazen), for you to enter and study the relationship between your outer- and inner-landscape, and witness how each is informing and mirroring the other. 

“There is a blossoming oneness between these two worlds in an harmonious dance of an eternal Spring.”

Your outer-landscape has emerged, essentially out of Mother Earth. Less obvious, is how our inner-landscape is of the same essential source. In Sesshin we study the self, the ‘filter’, which has come between this essential inner, and projected outer scape. This filter – the interpreter – is how you identify with the image of yourself: your persona or ego personality which has been moulded over generations by societal and familial conditioning.

Because a filter separates and divides, most of our pain and suffering occurs when our inner- and outer-landscapes are separated by your ego-mind filter.

Extended periods of zazen as experienced in Sesshin, afford you the presence and focus to immerse yourself in reacquainting with your inner-landscape, beyond your persona. The inner terrain invites you to pass through this conditioning to realize that the filter, or the veil of your personality, has separated you from bliss – your true nature. Like an endless film reel it filters out light and sound to curate a specific sort of illusionary Reality TV show seen on the screen of our minds.

The Zen Root of true reality, is that the “outer” landscape is not separate from the “inner” landscape. There is but one landscape. As you begin to harmonise with this one landscape through your meditation practice you open your filter, separate less out, and begin to experience increasing joy and peace. You begin to come home, to your true Root as you Blossom in an Eternal Spring of everyday life.

The Transformative Power of Talismanic Art

The Transformative Power of Talismanic Art

by | Sep 28, 2023 | Earth, Nature, Zen Buddhism

~ by Alison Evans

In May 2023 I went to a talk in Stanford, WC. A sign caught my eye – “Born as the Earth – a Zen Heart School”. I went over for a closer look and landed up in a conversation with Nangaku, its founder, who is a Zen monk and initiated shaman.

A 6 month course was starting in July. Little did I know, my life was about to change forever. We kicked off with the Visionary Fire Module.

I set an intention for the month. We were given instruction on how to practice Zazen Meditation. Then I was trained in the Protocols and the Agreements of Community Council. My first Council was amazing. I cried my way through it and felt so supported. The guidance was just lovely – like a warm hug. I learnt the importance of speaking from the “I”.

We received a whirlwind of information about our relationship to our ancestors, inspiration, passion and the transmutational power of Fire. I was tasked with building a home-altar. The ritualistic creativity was right up my street! I learned how to communicate with my ancestors by using the rhythm of a stick drumming on a stone to mimic my heartbeat.

We were encouraged to grieve with them – healing tears are gifts for the ancestors. It was as though someone had uncorked all that I had been suppressing for so many years. The tears came, and with them my healing began. Gathering up sticks of all I needed to transmute, I placed them on my altar. I burnt my sticks in a powerful healing ceremony. I released, and again cried and cried.

I received 2 monthly coaching sessions, and a divination – which was intriguing. I listened to my divination 6 times before I started integrating what had being communicated. We closed off our Fire Module which allowed my healing to marinate before starting the Compassionate Water Module.

Slightly more educated and better prepared, I packed up all my altar pieces and photos of my ancestors to create my Water shrine while travelling through Italy. I created temporary altars every second day. I set a new intention for the month.

Water and I resonated immediately – it all made so much sense. Water, the great balancer returns to equilibrium as fast as possible with its medicine of solving dilemmas, compassion, reflection and transparency.

I meditated my way across Italy, practising observing what my internal waters were doing. I experimented with my emotions and how they affected my water and felt very empowered to regain control over external influences.

I had 2 fantastic coaching sessions with Nangaku when I learnt that my angels always look out for me. I learnt too, that “those” demons are mine. They dedicated to keeping me safe – a big lesson for me. While people come into my world as angels they may leave as demons. Others may experience me as both an angel or a demon depending on how they respond to me. The lesson here for me was Oneness.

I loved my Water ceremony to whom I offered eggs, milk and honey, along with messages and symbolic gifts to release old blockages.

We closed off our Water Module and allowed the medicine of Fire and Water to deeply integrate.

The Grounded Earth Module began in September. I am collecting sacred items, as I have always done (though more consciously now), to create new altars for each month’s Elemental Training.

My altar is becoming my safe space. As I find my voice and become more empowered I am loving the Wednesday evening Community Council. My tears are drying up. I feel calmer, more grounded and centered. I learnt a valuable lesson on how to stay in balance by being in my centre. When off-balance, I can simply return to my centre and detach from my constant internal dialogue.

My intentions are more resolute and clear. Through meditation I am creating longer pauses between triggering stimuli and my habitual responses to them. My emotional waters are calming and my intuition is sharper!

We are about to end our Grounding Earth Module, and I am preparing to gift Mother Earth my homecoming collections.

“I have become aware that the art I had been instinctively creating using sticks, stones, feathers and bones, is my unique medicine gift to the world. I completed my first “conscious” Talismanic Art Piece. I based it on my journey with Born as the Earth School so far.”

The unlocked padlock and key represents the Gate of the Gatekeeper Apprentice Training.

This wisdom is made readily available and generously shared by Nangaku and his apprentice Raine.

The circle represents the medicine wheel as experienced in my divinations with Nangaku.

I bring the ancestors and a candle in as tribute to the Fire Dragon.

Seashells and yin-yang duality, purposely off-balance, represent the Water Dragon.

The centre piece, Mother Earth, is connected to the other 4 Modules.

Although I haven’t completed the Nature Module yet, I have chosen a feather and seed pods as representation.

The stones in the Stone Module are self-explanatory – they and the sand and seashell mix remind me of “As Above, So Below.”

The coins carry 2 messages. They represent coins from my divinations and the price paid for my impact on the environment.

The chain, symbolic of each one of us working together to carry the gift that is Earth School – its strength dependent on the weakest link. Each link the same, carrying the whole.

The “tree”, larger than life, grows out of the circle reaching out into new realms.

Nothing can be unheard or unseen. The wisdom I have already gained through this experience with Nangaku and Earth School has changed my very being. I know it will continue to do so – nothing will ever be the same again – thank God!

Artificial Intelligence vs Authentic Intelligence: A Zen Buddhist Perspective on Consciousness

Artificial Intelligence vs Authentic Intelligence: A Zen Buddhist Perspective on Consciousness

by | Sep 27, 2023 | Earth, Nature, Zen Buddhism

– Composed by Duane Steffens, and Edited Glenn Nangaku Leisching

Introduction

In the age of rapid technological advancement, the debate surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) versus authentic intelligence has gained considerable momentum.

While AI has transformed our world with its computational prowess, it is worthwhile to consider how Zen Buddhism views these concepts, especially concerning consciousness.

This article delves into the intriguing comparison between artificial and nature’s authentic intelligence from a Zen Buddhist perspective.

“Everything we are talking about, AI or computing power, will never be able to beat the complexity that nature presents to us. The real intelligence is Nature’s Intelligence. AI is good, but AI is just a tool to serve Nature’s Intelligence. Nature’s Intelligence is four and half billion years old. To think that something that is less than a hundred years old can beat something that is four billion years is a bit of an extension.” – Agam Khare

 

Understanding Artificial Intelligence

Defining AI

Artificial intelligence refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines, allowing them to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. These tasks encompass problem-solving, language comprehension, and even decision-making.

The Growth of AI

Over the years, AI has evolved significantly, thanks to machine learning, neural networks, and deep learning algorithms. These technologies enable AI systems to adapt and improve their performance based on data and experience.

AI’s Impact on Society

AI has found its way into various aspects of our lives, from virtual assistants on our smartphones to self-driving cars and recommendation algorithms on streaming platforms. It has streamlined processes and made our lives more convenient.

Nature’s Authentic Intelligence in Zen Buddhism

The Zen Approach to Consciousness

Zen Buddhism places a strong emphasis on mindfulness, meditation, and self-awareness. Through inner exploration in meditation (an ancient technology) practitioners de-condition themselves from the veil of mental programs to experience the pre-existing state of enlightenment – their authentic state of natural intelligence.

Consciousness and the Self

Zen views consciousness as a complex interplay of thoughts, emotions, and sensations. It questions the nature of the self and the concept of ego, seeking to transcend these barriers to attain a higher level of consciousness.

The Quest for Authentic Intelligence

In Zen, authentic intelligence is not about computational power or problem-solving abilities; it’s about the ability to perceive reality and respond with natural authenticity – without the filter of ego and desires. It involves being fully present in the moment and achieving a deep understanding of the self and the universe.

Bridging the Gap

Finding Harmony

While artificial intelligence and authentic intelligence may seem worlds apart, there is a way to find harmony between them. Zen teaches us to use all technologies mindfully, ensuring it enhances our lives without overshadowing our authentic experiences or causing harm.

The Role of Technology

From a Zen perspective, technology can be a tool to aid in our quest for authentic intelligence. Online meditation and self-awareness training, for instance, can guide us on our journey to awakening, making authentic intelligence more accessible in our fast-paced world.

It is important too, to remind ourselves that spiritual technologies and their instruments to support our human well-being have existed for thousands of years. Modern, digital technologies have at their root, these ancient, practical technologies which were created from the interconnection between humans and the intelligence of nature.

The Intelligence of Nature – Examples of Nature’s Authentic Intelligence

In contrast to current AI methods that focus on specific tasks and rely on large amounts of offline data and extensive, slow, and mostly supervised learning, natural intelligence is quick, versatile, agile, and open-ended.

 

Fungi – The Original Internet?

With an estimated 1.5m species of fungi, their fine fungal threads called mycelium act as an underground, natural ‘internet’, linking the roots of different plants. Up to 90 per cent of land plants are in a mutually-beneficial relationship with fungi. By linking into the network, plants share nutrients and information with neighbours and can sabotage unwelcome plants by spreading toxic chemicals.

 

Birds have (GPS) Global Positioning Systems!

For centuries, scientists dismissed birds as being less intelligent than mammals. Now they’re finding a new place in the pecking order. Tests have shown rooks and crows to be better than eight-year-old children at reaching treats by making and using wire hooks. Birds can remember where they hid thousands of pieces of food even after landscapes are covered in a metre of snow. Birds can find their way home after migrating thousands of miles. Arctic terns, for example, travel an average of 44,000 miles per year.

 

Plants – The Sensorial Superconductors

Humans have five basic senses. Scientists believe plants have at least 20. Plants release pheromones to warn of insect attacks and other plants respond. They also send distress signals, attracting predators of the insects that threaten to eat them. Plants are sensitive. Every root apex can detect 20 physical and chemical parameters, from light and gravity to humidity and pathogens. There are at least 600 species of animal-eating plants, including the venus flytrap. Plants can survive even after losing 90 per cent or more of their biomass.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is the essence of artificial intelligence?

Artificial intelligence aims to replicate human intelligence in machines to perform various tasks.

2. How does Zen Buddhism view consciousness?

Zen Buddhism sees consciousness as a complex interplay of thoughts and emotions, seeking to transcend the ego and attain higher awareness.

3. Can technology enhance our quest for authentic intelligence?

Yes, technology can aid in our journey toward authentic intelligence by providing tools and guidance for self-awareness.

4.Is it possible to balance technology and authentic experiences?

Absolutely, finding harmony between technology and authentic experiences is attainable through mindfulness and conscious use of technology.

Conclusion

In the clash of artificial versus natural, authentic intelligence, it’s vital to remember that they need not be mutually exclusive. Zen Buddhism teaches us that both can coexist harmoniously, with technology serving as a means to enhance our understanding of consciousness. Embracing this duality can lead to a more balanced and fulfilling life.

What’s important to remember is that intelligence, like language, is a tool used by nature and humans. Be wise! Maintain your sovereignty by not allowing yourself to be used, limited or manipulated by any tool.

In today’s tech-driven world, the relationship between artificial and authentic intelligence is more relevant than ever. By integrating the wisdom of Zen Buddhism into our lives, we can navigate this complex landscape with mindfulness and a deeper understanding of consciousness.