Bees, Peace, Zen

Supervision in Westbury and Wiltshire

Bees. Peace. Zen

Welcome to gentaku.com. The website offers reflections from the edges of three areas of my life that hold significance - as a beekeeper, peacemaker and zen practitioner. The name Gentaku for the site was the name given to me on my ordination as a Zen Novice Priest.

Gentaku means ‘source of abundance’ and it has been a guiding pointer for me in the past few years. Having slowed down as a supervisor and psychotherapist after many years of practice, my focus has been on how to live in a source of abundance. I continue to offer psychotherapy supervision and chaplaincy but nowadays my life is a confluence of beekeeping, vegetable gardening, peace-making, ultra running and Zen practice.

So there we have it: BEEKEEPINGS, PEACEMAKING and ZEN(ing).As an urban nun (a much better title in my view) I hope to offer reflections in these 3 areas, including life with Roshi Bob, my miniature Schnauzer who is, in every sense of the word a teacher and gentle co-conspirator in life.

Please feel free to connect with me.

About Jan

I am currently the Buddhist Chaplain at Bath Spa University, where I am accompanied by my dog, Roshi Bob. I am also an ordained Zen Priest, although I prefer the title ‘Urban Nun’. I lead a Zen group in Westbury, the East Wing Sangha, and offer meditation sittings at East Wing Compassionate Community, a project at the heart of Westbury (eastwingpractice.com).

My life continues to be one of study, exploration and curiosity. Among my wider interests and experiences is peacebuilding, in which I hold an MA in Reconciliation and Peacebuilding from the University of Winchester.

Given the intensity of life in our fragile world right now, questions of spiritual direction may be arising. I can create a space to explore this.

Beekeeping

Bees and beekeeping offer a wonderful insight into our world - both our inner life as well as a relationship to the environment.

Peacemaking

Reflections on peace and peacemaking.

Zen(ing)

Reflections on Zen - the lived experience and understanding some of the teachings

Fees & availability

Do connect if you'd like to explore any of the issues. For supervision the fee is £50.

For spiritual direction this is negotiated and may include the Buddhist spirit of Dana (donation).

Get in touch

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about how I work.

All enquires are usually answered within 24 hours, and all contact is strictly confidential and uses secure phone and email services.