Apprentice Training
A Moment of Celebration! BEZA is officially a Non-Profit Company!

A Moment of Celebration! BEZA is officially a Non-Profit Company!

Oct 31, 2024 | Beyond the Edge

Celebratory announcement: BEZA proudly becomes an official Non-Profit Company, marking a new chapter in its mission to alleviate suffering.

A Moment of Celebration!

Born as the Earth Zen Academy has been in gestation for the past two years. Supported by the heart of the BEZA Sangha we have been in a precious time of growth as we anchor our roots and deepen into creation with solid foundations. Now, like a stem of a young tree piercing through the soil, we open to a whole new world.

BEZA has been formally birthed! We are officially a Non-Profit Company.

We are deeply grateful for crossing this threshold into a new moment where we can expand and continue our dedication and commitment to a world free of suffering.

As BEZA blossoms our hands remain open in service to that sacred gift that keeps on giving. Thank you to everyone who has registered for an offering at BEZA, read our mailers, attended a training or listened to a talk. Thank you for the spiritual gift of DANA. Deep bows of gratitude to you and your devotion to your path of transformation, self-empowerment and healing. It is because of this growing community that the doorways open for us all to continue in kindness and offer a helping hand on the collective road to reclamation and remembering.

BEZA has never belonged to any one person. It belongs to all of us. And it is only in our coming together that we can truly create a new human story.

In the West African Dagara culture there is no word for ‘Thank you’. They are the words. They are ‘thankful’ in everything they do for each other.

May we continue to be and embody the act of gratitude in all we do.

Ekan & Raine

For a Regenerative Future!

On Saturday, 26th October a few members of the local BEZA Community along with 7 youth from the Creative Skills Factory in Stanford, WC planted 25 indigenous trees!

BEZA, and Raine in particular, supports the valuable work the Creative Skills Factory does in the Stanford area.

We were all held in their delightful songs as each youth planted two trees for someone close to them who had recently passed plus one for themselves to open the way for a wholesome future.

While planting these young trees into the ground we held heartfelt intention for their thriving growth. This became a powerful symbolic honouring of these wonderful children and their blossoming, fruitful futures.

Four additional trees were planted  – two by special request from a BEZA sangha member and two to commemorate BEZA becoming a Non-profit.

These trees were donated by you! We plant a tree for each new person who attends their first training through the academy. Thank you for regenerating you (and our environment)!

Celebration of Expression – Way of Joy

Celebration of Expression – Way of Joy

Oct 16, 2024 | Events

BEZA’s Annual Celebration of Expression weekend.

Join us in co-creating a weekend of Expressive Celebration!!! 

28 November – 1 December 2024. 
3/2 nights at Boschrivier Accommodations Stanford, WC. 

We begin on Thursday 28th November at 2:30 pm for a Celebratory Boat Cruise down the Klein Rivier on the African Queen. 

Come as your beautiful self, and bring along any talents or gifts and ingredients for a sumptuous meal you would like to share in this fun-filled weekend of creative expression.

The Possibilities are Endless:

Meditation, Yoga, Breathwork, Dance, Fire-side chats, Numerology, Divination, Creative Arts & Spontaneous Theater, Games, Music, Mountain/Fynbos Walks, Swimming, Communal Cooking, Simply Being, and more…

Accommodations:

  • A choice of THREE or TWO nights at the beautiful Boschrivier Accommodations – a picturesque, rural farm just outside Stanford, near Cape Town, WC.
  • Deluxe (1 or 2 people per double bed) and Shared Rooms (2 people in single beds).
  • Ensuite and Shared Bathrooms.

This event is exclusive for the BEZA Community and anyone interested in meeting our Sangha.

Priced at cost and generously discounted by Laing DeVilliers, BEZA Community member and owner of Boschrivier.

  • From R1200 (Two Nights) / R1400 (Three Nights)
  • Thursday (28th 2:30pm) Boat Cruise R250
Limited spots available!!
Join Us
Group photo of participants at BEZA’s Annual Celebration of Expression retreat near Cape Town, gathered at Boschrivier Accommodations for a weekend of meditation, creative arts, and community connection.
Participants engaging in creative arts during BEZA’s Annual Celebration of Expression retreat near Cape Town, exploring self-expression through painting and crafts.
Participants engaging in creative arts during BEZA’s Annual Celebration of Expression retreat near Cape Town, exploring self-expression through painting and crafts.
Participants enjoying a nature walk through the fynbos during BEZA’s Annual Celebration of Expression retreat near Cape Town, connecting with nature and embracing mindfulness.
Participants enjoying a nature walk through the fynbos during BEZA’s Annual Celebration of Expression retreat near Cape Town, connecting with nature and embracing mindfulness.
Participants planting trees at BEZA’s Annual Celebration of Expression retreat near Cape Town, symbolizing growth, renewal, and connection to the earth.
Friends sharing joyful moments at BEZA’s Annual Celebration of Expression retreat near Cape Town, strengthening connections and building community.
Group photo of participants at BEZA’s Annual Celebration of Expression retreat near Cape Town, gathered at Boschrivier Accommodations for a weekend of meditation, creative arts, and community connection.

Captured moments of joy and self-expression from last year’s Celebration of Expression. Every smile, dance, and shared moment reminds us that when we come together in creativity, the possibilities are endless. ✨

Let your heart speak, your soul dance, and your spirit soar in the magic of community.

“There are mountains hidden in hiddenness…”

“There are mountains hidden in hiddenness…”

Sep 19, 2024 | Beyond the Edge, Stone

Shamanic Gatekeeper Apprentice Training:

Creative module of STONE.

Dear Beautiful Creative Being,

Starting on the 5th October, a cohort of deeply curious and dedicated BEZA students and apprentices will embark on an 8 week deep dive into the creative power of stones.

 

THE CREATIVE POWER OF STONES!?  Yes, you read that right!  

 

“When we connect with our bones, the stones of our bodies, we connect with the powerful medicine of the mountains.”

Sharmanic Gatekeeper Apprentice Training

Creative module of STONE

Dear Beautiful Creative Being

Starting on the 5th October, a cohort of deeply curious and dedicated BEZA students and apprentices will embark on an 8 week deep dive into the creative power of stones.

THE CREATIVE POWER OF STONES!?  Yes, you read that right!  

“When we connect with our bones, the stones of our bodies, we connect with the powerful medicine of the mountains.”

Spiritual seekers have been going into the mountains for millennia. They have gone into the spacious, hidden mysteries of the stones to clarify, ground and empower themselves, returning back to the villages to heal and liberate all beings.

You are invited to come and learn with us – to become channels for the wisdom that originates from Mother Earth herself. We will learn how the stones – our bones, the mountains, minerals and metals, when combined or collided, create form – a resonating vibration that travels into the world.

By traveling into the deep memory of your bones, you will come to realize and embrace yourself as the creator! With this response-ability you’ll find power, and with this power an ancient knowing – that what you experience is a reflective resonance of your creation.

The stones and our bones are condensed energy – condensed power. Power and creation are synonomous. Entering our bones we access the power of the creativity to manifest who it is we are.

The time is now to bring that powerful force of creation into manifestation!

This training is for the committed, eager to uncover their limitless creativity. It is through resonance – telling our story, communication, leading, organizing and networking that we manifest our lives. When we study stones we re-cognizethat the bones of our body and their connection to the ancient stories of our being can be engaged to supercharge our creative ability – and hence our freedom.

We explore Stone’s intrinsic power and strength; their capacity for recording and storing information; and how their minerals are the structural building blocks of our bodies and minds, and all communication or transmission channels.

Stones hold a storehouse of secrets. Our evolution has depended on them. They were our first tools; our first art; symbolised our first myths; and the first sounds and languages. Stones have oriented our human collective from conception through to memorialised immortality. Gatekeepers to unknown realms, they inspire us to their noblest peaks and, they become barring barriers and porous boundaries.

The Stones and Mountains – they give us perspective and concepts like duality and unified fields of infinity. They are a record of our travels through tyrannical times to the sweetness of space. By their power and grandeur, our bones – the stones, propel us forward. They fuel our reach as far as far can lead – often to forgetfulness. Yet, they help us remember. Since forever, it has been so.

We all can remember The Way – to those ‘mountains hidden in hiddenness’ where, in their darkest depths, ‘stone women with nothing but eyeball’s in their skulls’ are mystically giving birth to ‘newborns in the night’.

We invite you to join the Creative Stone Module and remember who you are in your bones – to know your purpose, and work with the Stones to express yourself and make yourself whole with the Earth.

All you could ever wish to know is in your hands – a Gatekeeper you are, a Mountain of infinite wisdom. You know this in the stoney-bones of your Earthen body.

Just Ask is the translated name of the powerful mountain shaman who brought me back home through the stones. All you have to do to come back home is just ask.

Ekan Nangaku

Born as the Earth Zen Academy | BEZA | Elemental | Zen | Mentoring | Meditation | Generational Healing | Ancestors | Divination | Shamanic | Shamanism | Gatekeeper | DANA | Community Council | Buddhism | Spirituality | Nature | Mindfulness | Enlightenment | Awakening | Daido Roshi | Consciousness | Holistic | True Self | Wisdom | Medicine
Make Way for your Creative Expression!
  • Return home to your true, whole self and become a Facilitator in the New Earth Consciousness Revolution
  • Regain sovereignty over your spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical intelligence.
  • Access your full potential and serve all beings through wisely dispensing your Medicine Gifts
Throughout the training you will have access to empowering wisdom:
  • Personal development within a spiritual community
  • Integrative training supported by Level II & III students
  • 80hrs contact time per elemental module
  • Inclusive of supportive embodiment modalities: meditation, mentoring, community council, divination, yoga, Qi Gong, breath work, creative arts, movement and more.
Apply Here
Born as the Earth Zen Academy | BEZA | Elemental | Zen | Mentoring | Meditation | Generational Healing | Ancestors | Divination | Shamanic | Shamanism | Gatekeeper | DANA | Community Council | Buddhism | Spirituality | Nature | Mindfulness | Enlightenment | Awakening | Daido Roshi | Consciousness | Holistic | True Self | Wisdom | Medicine
Make Way for your Creative Expression!
  • Return home to your true, whole self and become a Facilitator in the New Earth Consciousness Revolution
  • Regain sovereignty over your spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical intelligence.
  • Access your full potential and serve all beings through wisely dispensing your Medicine Gifts
Throughout the training you will have access to empowering wisdom:
  • Personal development within a spiritual community
  • Integrative training supported by Level II & III students
  • 80hrs contact time per elemental module
  • Inclusive of supportive embodiment modalities: meditation, mentoring, community council, divination, yoga, Qi Gong, breath work, creative arts, movement and more.
Apply Here
BEZA turns Two!

BEZA turns Two!

Sep 19, 2024 | Beyond the Edge

The Road Less Travelled:

Making a difference.

Dear BEZA friends,

It was two years ago on the 2nd of September 2022 when BEZA welcomed our first 3 Apprentices for our opening training aptly named the Visionary Fire Module. Working with the energy of a new moon, the initiates gained entry to age-old methodologies and learned how to access inspiration, intuition, and heal generational wounding.

The Road Less Travelled

Making a difference

Dear BEZA friends,

It was two years ago on the 2nd of September 2022 when BEZA welcomed our first 3 Apprentices for our opening training aptly named the Visionary Fire Module. Working with the energy of a new moon, the initiates gained entry to age-old methodologies and learned how to access inspiration, intuition, and heal generational wounding.

This 2nd anniversary is a marker on our short journey. It is a moment to peek over our shoulders and see the less travelled road we had taken, and how it has made all the difference.

Without any budget, media platforms, name recognition, or desire for compensation, we opened the gates to BEZA’s online curriculum. With trust, a deep vow, open-hearted generosity, and a vision of merging two ancient spiritual lineages we began offering their conjoined wisdom.

Within 2 weeks of our launch back in 2022 I became a monk. This came with responsibility, empowerment and resolute faith to practice the first teaching I received from Seido Roshi at the ordination. Knowing little of what was before me, I asked Roshi for any guidance he had to offer…

“Open hands,” was his simple answer. And so, opening my hands, I let go of any expectation of what BEZA may become, and vowed to receive and serve the immeasurable perfection of the Buddha Way, the profundity of the Dharma, and the rare jewel of Sangha.

Since then we have been facilitating the homeward journey of over 120 awakening Buddhas in our steadily growing Sangha, 10 of whom have become formal students, two of whom are student facilitators. Together have planted over 300 indigenous trees – one for each who has come to taste the Dharma.

We continue to teach and learn with the cycles of the moon. As we approach the culmination of our second year of Apprentice Training, 16 apprentices will conclude the Medicine of Nature Module as they journey around the Medicine Wheel. Attendance in our daily meditations is regular and growing. Community Council has introduced the ancient art of the talking circle to over one hundred people. Since our birthing, we have had the privilege of performing over 200 divinations and 500 mentoring sessions for aspirants along the way.

Recently, BEZA hosted its first international student for a 21 day shamanic journey into the culture, landscape and spirituality of South Africa -an expanded journey is planned for November 2025. In May next year, a group of BEZA students and apprentices will travel to Japan and meet Seido Roshi at his international training monastery to receive the Buddhist precepts.

By the end of 2024, Born as the Earth Zen Academy will be registered as a non-profit.

Though we have only just begun, and as yet do not have our own land, BEZA is grounded firmly in the spirit of lineage. We take refuge in having received the baton from thousands of years of teacher-student transmissions and willingly carry this responsibility to share these sacred teachings with generations to come.

From no thing at all, BEZA, its Dharma and Sangha are blooming into flower. Noble seekers have come, received and offered gifts of generosity into a space created with, and for, well… generosity. The teaching of ‘Open hands’ is opening hearts. This spirit is materializing into substance, a new ground of abundance, where friends find new eyes and new pathways to horizons beyond the edge of what they thought was possible.

For all sentient beings, indeed for a New Earth, this is happening beyond any expectation.

May we each continue to water anuttarasamyak-sambodhi – the absolute ground of being, with love.

Honey in the Heart, 13 Thank-you’s.

Ekan Nangaku