Three Years on the Great Mountain: A Memoir of Zen and Fearlessness

An invigorating memoir about a young woman pushed to her limits at a Zen monastery in Hawai’i, where she learns that the key to unlocking the ultimate breakthrough is igniting her fighting spirit.

At twenty-five, activist Cristina Moon faced an impossible task: preparing for the possibility of arrest and torture inside military-ruled Myanmar. Her response? Learning Buddhist meditation. So began what would become a decades-long spiritual path--eventually leading her to a Zen temple and martial arts dojo in Hawaiʻi with a timeless method of warrior Zen training.

Offering a bracing account of three years of mind-body-spirit training at Daihonzan Chozen-ji, a Rinzai Zen temple and martial arts dojo, Moon powerfully captures the rigors and realizations that finally shaped her into a Zen priest whose highest directive is to give fearlessness.

Told with immersive detail and an unique Asian American female perspective, Three Years on the Great Mountain chronicles Moon’s straight-up-the-mountain training regimen at Chozen-ji, conducted every day and often through the nights. Through the spiritual forging of daily Zen meditation, manual labor, swordsmanship, and Japanese tea ceremony, she discovers a newfound conviction that self mastery and spiritual growth can take fierce form. Embraced by local Hawaiʻi and Japanese culture, and a community of discipline, respect, and discovery, she discovers a profound sense of home.

CRISTINA MOON is a Buddhist priest, writer, and strategist who lives at Daihonzan Chozen-ji Zen center, a monastery in Honolulu, Hawaii, known for its rigorous training in zazen (meditation), Kendo (Way of the Sword), Chado (Way of Tea), and ceramics. After a career in human rights and social change organizing, she graduated from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and now works with individuals and organizations to develop the sensitivity and spiritual strength needed to lead in today’s challenging world.