Zen · Cape Town, South Africa
Sōtō Zen apprentice and facilitator training founded by Ekan Nangaku Leisching (student of Seido Suzuki Roshi, Tōshōji lineage). Integrates Japanese Zen with earth-based wisdom. Cape Town-based.
Born as the Earth Zen Academy (BEZA) runs apprentice and facilitator training in the Soto Zen lineage from Cape Town, South Africa. The Academy was founded by Ekan Nangaku Leisching, a Zen practitioner who trained in the Toshoji lineage as a student of Seido Suzuki Roshi. BEZA's framing integrates traditional Soto Zen with earth-based wisdom drawn from the African and ecological context the Academy practices in. This is lineage-based Zen training rather than a structured Western certificate program. Authorization to teach within the Soto Zen tradition comes from the dharma transmission relationship between teacher and student, accumulated through years of zazen, residential practice, sesshin, formal study of koan and Dogen's writings, and the recognition the teacher extends when the student is ready. BEZA's apprentice and facilitator training names this process explicitly: students apprentice with Leisching across years of practice, with eventual authorization to teach extending from the lineage rather than from a defined program length. What the training includes: regular zazen practice at the Cape Town centre, sesshin (intensive retreat) periods following standard Soto form, study of Dogen's Shobogenzo and other canonical Soto sources, oryoki (formal meal practice) and the broader monastic forms when appropriate, and the integration with earth-based wisdom that distinguishes BEZA's framing within the broader Soto network. Practice is the curriculum. For South African practitioners drawn to Soto Zen and to the integration of Zen with ecological and earth-based framing, BEZA offers one of the few formal Soto apprentice paths on the continent. The credential, when it eventually develops for serious students, is lineage authorization within the Toshoji line of Soto Zen, not a Western certificate.
The form structures the practice life. Daily zazen at the Cape Town centre, periodic sesshin (intensive seven-day silent retreats following the standard Soto form: zazen blocks, kinhin, oryoki, dokusan with the teacher), study of Dogen's Shobogenzo and other canonical Soto sources, koan practice as introduced by the teacher, and the integration of Zen practice with earth-based wisdom and the South African ecological context. Apprentice students take on additional responsibilities within the centre over time: leading zazen, supporting sesshin, and the gradual handing of forms that lineage transmission requires. Practice is the curriculum; modular teacher development doesn't apply.
Practice is in person at the Cape Town centre with the traditional Soto Zen rhythm: regular zazen, sesshin periods, study, and the apprentice-teacher relational work that defines lineage practice. The connection to the Toshoji line of Soto Zen through Leisching's training under Seido Suzuki Roshi places BEZA within the broader international Soto network. Apprentice students develop over years through sustained practice, sesshin attendance, study, and the dharma relationship with the teacher rather than through a defined program length.
No external accreditation. Authorization to teach within the Soto Zen tradition comes from dharma transmission within the lineage, extended by the teacher when the student is ready based on demonstrated practice, sesshin depth, study, and the dharma relationship over years. Apprentice students develop toward eventual transmission within the Toshoji line; the timeline is years to decades rather than months. Western certificate models don't apply.
Beginning students attend regular zazen and shorter retreats without prior credential. Apprentice training requires sustained prior practice, including documented sesshin attendance, demonstrated commitment to the form, and the teacher's recognition that the student is ready to apprentice. Eventual dharma transmission requires years of practice, accumulated retreat hours, and lineage recognition within the Toshoji Soto line.
Among Zen training routes available to South African practitioners, BEZA is one of the few formal Soto apprentice paths on the continent, alongside The Dharma Centre at Poep Kwang Sa (Korean Zen lineage). Compared to international Soto Zen training (San Francisco Zen Center, Upaya, Toshoji in Japan), BEZA offers Cape Town-based practice with the Toshoji lineage connection through Leisching's training. Compared to Western structured teacher training (Upaya's Buddhist chaplaincy training, MBSR teacher pathways), this is lineage practice with dharma transmission rather than certificate-based credentialing.
| Location | Cape Town, South Africa |
| Country | South Africa |
| Tradition | Zen |
| Format | In-person |
| Duration | Multi-year |