Quote Interpretation...help?

Nothing is as great as it seems, including a problem, as proven by the smallness of its reflection.

oday is the 40th anniversary of the blastoff of Apollo 11, which landed on the moon. July 20 is the anniversary of the famous moon walk itself. This gives me an excuse to reflect on the moon as a symbol in Buddhist art and literature.

Unfortunately, the symbolic meaning of the moon is something I'm still learning about myself. I have noticed the moon is used to symbolize enlightenment in Tibetan art, for example, but I don't know why. If anyone can point me in the direction of a discussion of the moon in Tibetan or any other Buddhist iconography, I would appreciate it.

The moon frequently pops up in Zen stories and literature, where it sometimes symbolizes enlightenment. The late Taizan Maezumi Roshi of the Los Angeles Zen Center sometimes spoke of the "hazy moon of enlightenment," by which I understand he meant that perfection of enlightenment is itself imperfect. OK, it's a Zen thing.

There is also Dogen's "moon in a dewdrop," from the Genjokoan --

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in dewdrops on the grass, or even in one drop of water.
Enlightenment does not divide you, just as the moon does not break the water. You cannot hinder enlightenment, just as a drop of water does not hinder the moon in the sky.

The depth of the drop is the height of the moon. Each reflection, however long or short its duration, manifests the vastness of the dewdrop, and realizes the limitlessness of the moonlight in the sky.