The moon represents the subjective mind, an entity composed of three things: opinion, desire and emotion. The most basic function of the subjective mind is to form opinions of the things it encounters via the senses, some variety of decision on the spectrum from “love” to “hate.” Opinion causes desire. The more we like something, the stronger our desire to bring it closer; the more we dislike something, the stronger our desire to get away from it. Just as opinion causes desire, desire in turn causes emotion. Emotion is based on fulfilling or failing to fulfil your desires. The better we succeed at attaining something we like (or avoiding something we dislike) the more strongly we feel emotions of “happiness.” The more thoroughly we fail to attain what we like (or avoid what we dislike) the more strongly we feel emotions of “unhappiness.” These three stages of subjectivity as a whole – opinion, desire, and emotion – are the “subjective mind,” symbolized by the moon.
