What is the significance of the moon's roundness and sharpness in Zen philosophy?

Beloved Osho, one day kyozan was looking at the moon together with sekishitsu and asked him, "where does the roundness of the moon go when it becomes sharp, crescent?" sekishitsu said, "when it is sharp, the roundness is still there."

There is a life which we are aware of, a life of desire, longing, greed, lust, power. A life, in short, of motivation; a life of goals, of achievements. There is another life where Zen opens the door for you, a life without motivation. Everything happens -- why bother? Even desiring enlightenment is preventing it. It will happen. Just become the silent lake of Hirosawa. When no motivation is there, your consciousness is unclouded. No question arises, no answer is needed. You simply are, a pure existence. Another Zen master, Moan, wrote: <q>CLEAR, CLEAR -- CLEAREST! I RAN BAREFOOT EAST AND WEST. NOW, MORE LUCID THAN THE MOON, THE EIGHTY-FOUR THOUSAND DHARMA GATES!</q> Mythologically, Buddhism believes that dharma, the nature of existence, has eighty-four thousand gates. That is only symbolic. It means there are as many gates as there are living beings. You don't have to enter through anybody else's…

Question: OUR BELOVED MASTER, DOGEN CONTINUES: WHEN WE LOOK BACK AT THE SHORE FROM OUR BOAT, WE MISTAKENLY FEEL AS IF THE SHORE WERE MOVING. BUT WHEN WE LOOK AT OUR BOAT WITH CARE, WE FIND THAT IT IS OUR BOAT THAT IS ACTUALLY MOVING. SIMILARLY, WHEN WE SEE ALL THINGS WITH THE DELUDED IDEA THAT OUR BODY AND MIND ARE SEPARATE FROM EACH OTHER, WE MISTAKENLY THINK INNATE MIND AND NATURE ARE ETERNAL. BUT WHEN WE REALIZE THAT OUR BODY AND MIND ARE INSEPARABLE, WE SEE CLEARLY THAT ALL THINGS ARE NOT SUBSTANTIAL. FIREWOOD, WHEN BURNED, BECOMES ASH; THE ASH NEVER AGAIN REVERTS TO BEING FIREWOOD. STILL, WE SHOULD NOT REGARD FIREWOOD AS A BEFORE, AND ASH AS AN AFTER. WE MUST REALIZE THAT FIREWOOD IS IN THE POSITION OF FIREWOOD WITH OR WITHOUT BEFORE AND AFTER.

Question: BELOVED OSHO, ONE DAY, WHEN MASTER KEIZAN GOT UP IN THE HALL TO SPEAK, A MONK CALLED GAZAN CAME FORWARD FROM THE ASSEMBLY AND ASKED, "WHY IS IT HARD TO SPEAK OF THE PLACE WHERE NOT A BREATH ENTERS?" KEIZAN SAID, "EVEN SPEAKING OF IT DOES NOT SAY IT." GAZAN HAD A FLASH OF INSIGHT, BUT AS HE WAS ABOUT TO OPEN HIS MOUTH, KEIZAN SAID, "WRONG." SCOLDED, GAZAN WITHDREW. AFTER THIS HIS SPIRIT OF DETERMINATION SOARED FAR BEYOND THAT OF ORDINARY PEOPLE. ONE NIGHT, AS KEIZAN WAS ENJOYING THE MOON ALONG WITH GAZAN, HE SAID, "DO YOU KNOW THAT THERE ARE TWO MOONS?" GAZAN SAID, "NO." KEIZAN SAID, "IF YOU DON'T KNOW THAT THERE ARE TWO MOONS, YOU ARE NOT A SEEDLING OF THE `TO' SUCCESSION." AT THIS, GAZAN INCREASED HIS DETERMINATION AND SAT CROSS LEGGED LIKE AN IRON POLE FOR YEARS.

Question: OUR BELOVED MASTER, ENO SAID: GOOD FRIENDS, IN THIS TEACHING, FROM THE OUTSET, SITTING IN MEDITATION DOES NOT CONCERN THE MIND NOR DOES IT CONCERN PURITY; WE DO NOT TALK OF STEADFASTNESS. IF SOMEONE SPEAKS OF `VIEWING THE MIND', THEN I WOULD SAY THAT THE MIND IS OF ITSELF DELUSION, AND AS DELUSIONS ARE JUST LIKE FANTASIES, THERE IS NOTHING TO BE SEEN. IF SOMEONE SPEAKS OF `VIEWING PURITY', THEN I WOULD SAY THAT MAN'S NATURE IS OF ITSELF PURE, BUT BECAUSE OF FALSE THOUGHTS, TRUE REALITY IS OBSCURED. IF YOU EXCLUDE DELUSIONS, THEN THE ORIGINAL NATURE REVEALS ITS PURITY. IF YOU ACTIVATE YOUR MIND TO VIEW PURITY, WITHOUT REALIZING THAT YOUR OWN NATURE IS ORIGINALLY PURE, DELUSIONS OF PURITY WILL BE PRODUCED. SINCE THIS DELUSION HAS NO PLACE TO EXIST, THEN YOU KNOW THAT WHATEVER YOU SEE IS NOTHING BUT DELUSION.

Question: OUR BELOVED MASTER, DOGEN WROTE: WHEN WE ACHIEVE ENLIGHTENMENT, IT IS JUST LIKE THE MOON REFLECTING ITSELF ON THE WATER. THE MOON WILL NOT GET WET, NOR IS THE WATER BROKEN. THE MOONLIGHT, HOWEVER VAST, REFLECTS ITSELF ON A SMALL QUANTITY OF WATER. THE WHOLE MOON AND THE WHOLE SKY BOTH REFLECT THEMSELVES EVEN IN A DEWDROP ON THE GRASS, OR IN A DROP OF WATER. AS THE MOON NEVER BREAKS THE WATER, SO ENLIGHTENMENT NEVER DESTROYS THE MAN. AS THE DEWDROP NEVER OBSTRUCTS THE REFLECTION OF THE MOON, SO A MAN NEVER OBSTRUCTS THE COMING OF ENLIGHTENMENT. THE DEEPER THE MOON REFLECTS ITSELF IN THE WATER, THE HIGHER THE MOON IS. WE SHOULD REALIZE THAT THE LONG AND SHORT OF TIME ARE QUITE ONE WITH THE LARGE AND SMALL OF WATER, AND THE BROAD AND NARROW OF THE MOON.