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 Hawai'i 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 Hawai'i and Japanese culture, and a community of discipline, respect, and discovery, she discovers a profound sense of home.

Three Years on the Great Mountain: A Memoir of Zen and Fearlessness, Cristina Moon, Shambhala, Paperback, 280 pages, $24.95

Rev. Cristina Moon is a Buddhist priest, writer, and strategist who lives at Daihonzan Chozen-ji, a Rinzai Zen temple and martial arts dojo in Honolulu, Hawai'i, known for its rigorous method of mind, body, and spiritual training. After a global career in human rights and social change, and graduating from business school at Stanford, she now lives on the secluded grounds of Chozen-ji helping others develop the sensitivity and strength needed to stay calm amid chaos and accord with the myriad changes of today's fast-moving world.