Three Years on the Great Mountain
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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.
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"Rev. Cristina Moon spells out in profound detail the rigor and resonance of Zen training at Chozen-ji. For those of us who may be intrigued—but also intimidated—she guides us through her own inner narrative as she introduces us to her teacher and community, masters unfamiliar forms, and cuts through self-imposed limitations. This is a memoir that inspires us to train, to embody an attentive way of being, and to cultivate spiritual strength." —Rima Vesely-Flad, author of Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition
"Three Years on the Great Mountain is not only a compelling recount of Cristina Moon’s own personal journey to Zen but a universal exploration of belonging and the profound liberation available to all of us through dedication and training. From the front lines of Burma's resistance movement to the meditation mats of Chozen-ji, Moon’s call for all of us to take seriously each moment is an important one for this time." —Prentis Hemphill, author of What It Takes to Heal
"Three Years on the Great Mountain is a powerful expression of awakening through the Zen path. This story is a teaching of going beyond our small self as training in freedom. The grounding wisdom of this path of practice emerges whether one skillfully wields a cup of tea, a sword, a broom, or the breath. The path is not about Cristina, you, or I; it is about how wholehearted commitment transforms our fear into fearlessness. This book is about how to live the Buddhadharma fully." —Koshin Paley Ellison, Zen teacher and author of Untangled: Walking the Eightfold Path to Clarity, Courage, and Compassion
"Cristina Moon’s engaging memoir reveals the spirit of Zen and local Hawaii culture at her training temple Chozen-ji and in so doing, steps into a lineage of no fear, of moving seamlessly in the world. The book makes the case for an embodied Buddhist training, the type of Zen where skin, flesh, bones, and marrow are offered fully to the life of attention and awakening. An invitation to discover one’s true self and home." —Duncan Ryūken Williams, author of American Sutra
"In this striking portrait of a Zen priest in training, Rev. Cristina Moon shares her singular journey from the streets of Rangoon to a dojo on Oahu: from activism to Buddhism, kotonk to senpai, doubt to conviction. Told with honesty, humor, and crackling detail, the stories in this memoir offer the gift of spiritual vigor for all seekers. Ferocity and grace, striving and sincerity—this book, like its author, contains multitudes." —Chenxing Han, author of Be the Refuge and one long listening