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

by Cristina Moon

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 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.

Genres: Memoir, Buddhism, Nonfiction, Zen, Spirituality

280 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 18, 2024

Reviews

[Jasper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been fortunate to see Rev Moon speak - she is powerful, and I came away from that talk feeling changed. Similarly, I suspect that in five, ten, or twenty years I'm going to look back at reading this book as a pivotal life experience.

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted more.

[Jonathan Lu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book that read to me like Christina Moon’s personal Invisible Man: her search for identity and acceptance of her identity as manifested through the intense training of Daihonzan Chozen-ji Dojo. Reading about her journey made me reminiscent of the concept that discipline = freedom as espoused by Jocko Willink. Core to the practice of her dojo was extreme physical training through martial arts; extreme mental training through hours of meditation in a physically painful position; and extreme discipline through tea ceremony and hospitality.

Christina Moon’s own experience / journey / struggle as an Asian American is one that I could not relate to having had a very different experience as an Asian American. Though her path to accept identity was a noble story with a similar objective that we all face, that I could appreciate deeply. I also could not relate to her pathway having never gone through such extreme training as with her dojo, but have the curiosity to now experience it from the depth of emotions she felt. It was enlightening to try to intellectually understand how she came to acceptance and appreciation of life through extreme physical and mental exhaustion, training, precision, and pain. But I could not emotionally understand the effect it had on her in coming to acceptance of her own identity and release her own fear. The path she has chosen is noble and admirable, and one worthy of aspiring to for a life of precision and service, which in turn allows her to experience life more deeply. But I was left wondering if all of this training was "good" for her physiologically - a very judgmental Asian opinion to hold. Does such a path necessitate tendon damage from maintaining the seated meditation position for hours on end, or neurological damage from all-night training and sleeping no more than 4.5hrs per night? The fact that I have such reservations is a clear indication that I do not understand the way. That I do not understand the difference Kendo (way of the sword) and Kenjutsu (swordsmanship) nor Chado (way of tea) and Gongfu Cha (Tea Ceremony) means that I cannot understand life the way that she can after 3 years on the great mountain. Maybe one day I will have the bravery to try 1 week at Daihonzan Chozen-ji.

[Connie B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written. I have met the author, which makes her story all the more interesting to me.

[JLTobias · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rewarding

Cristina Moon’s memoir of her three years of Zen training at the Chozen-ji Dojo in Hawaii is a rewarding read… for those able to stick with it.

Moon’s memoir is slow-moving, painstakingly describing the details surrounding the early days of Zen training. There were numerous moments in which I nearly cast the book aside in impatience, frustration or boredom. Of course, these reactions are faced far more acutely by students undertaking Zen practice. Readers therefore might wish to consider Moon’s volume and the reactions they inspire a small Zen training exercise.

Chozen-ji teaches Rinzai Zen, the school embodied by the personage of the samurai. Rinzai amplifies rigorous meditation practice with labor (clearing land, pulling weeds, maintaining the Dojo), sword practice, calligraphy and the rite of the Chado tea ceremony. As this demonstrates, Rinzai Zen focuses on clarifying and enlarging the life force (kiai — Japanese for “unified energy”, the Japanese rendering of chi) through diverse forms of activity.

As recounted by Moon, the ultimate lessons are that Zen training is lifelong and that all aspects of life — especially difficulties encountered — provide the opportunity for spiritual development and the revelation of the true self.

These are important spiritual lessons and they make Moon’s memoir a valuable volume. So, too, does Moon’s approachable account of her halting progress through Chozen-ji’s program of study.

Like Chozen-ji’s curriculum, Moon’s memoir is demanding, often difficult to complete, but ultimately rewarding.

[Katsu Zen · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of four books I purchased for 2024 on well being. I love books that show dedication to the practice, the need for isolation (mentally and even away from others/retreat) and what our shared humanity entails when we begin to work with our mind. A stellar new read and compelling call for us to find and climb our own great mountain.

[Katie O'Mara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir was a completely new topic for me. I was intimidated that I might not understand some of the content, but the author was so vulnerable and relatable. I related to her insecurities and fears, and through that connection I was able to be open to learning about zen and the dojo. Very well written and powerfully told.

[Lynnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably 4.5. I really loved the book and the subject is fascinating. Zen and being a warrior seem contradictory, but they do mesh in this school of Rinzai Zen. Moon also details the tea ceremony. The appendix offers a thorough explanation of terms.

The book was a tad too long for me, but my guess is that the reason has more to do with my current attention span than content.

[Eric Goebelbecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three Years on the Great Mountain chronicles an enthralling journey of personal development that touches you, educates you, and makes you think. Rev Christina Moon has a strong voice, brimming with humor, humility, and warmth.

[Connie Kronlokken]

Well-written, disciplined discussion. Informative.

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was such a joy to read.

[Sienna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm biased by a Chozen-ji connection & I truly enjoyed Moon's memoir.

[Spencer Peacock · Rating 4 out of 5]

great book that offers insight into what exactly happens in those years that dharma teachers often refer to as their training