The Floating Bowl

There's a scene in the 1993 film Little Buddha, where Siddhartha (played by Keanu Reeves) is a starving ascetic who accepts a bowl of rice from the young girl. He then tries to explain to fellow ascetics that the Middle Way is between the extremes of self-mortification and indulgence, using the empty bowl floating down the stream to illustrate the principle of continuity and transmigration. What does it mean? The floating bowl is an interesting metaphor for the changing nature of identity. When I am finished the bowl of rice, my bowl is ready to receive other kinds of food. Thus by analogy, things change constantly, and the middle way is for one's mind to be at peace throughout these kinds of changes, without clinging to one's version of reality.
   It's interesting to look at this from a contemporary perspective. There is often an enormous gulf between what one plans to happen and what actually happens, and it's precisely this 'gulf' that allows a person to lessen their sense of self. It's only when I experience the uncertainty that comes after even the best laid plans that I can understand the provisional nature of all reality. What I think is going to happen is only an approximate model, and it never fully captures the present unfolding.
     To go back to the previous example of Siddhartha: his plan was initially to starve himself in order to reach a heightened transcendent state, as well as lessen his attachment to the body. But what ended up happening was the opposite; in not taking care of his bodily needs, Siddhartha could barely even muster the energy or concentration to realize anything. This in itself is a lesson in the deeply ingrained interdependence of all beings, as well as conditioned nature. Were I to simply follow my self-created path, then the success of that path only solidifies my sense of being a separate soul. But when those plans wear thin or fall apart, this is a perfect venue for transformation because it illustrates the kind of impermanence in which humans live.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9Ul46Dj3Hg