Dr. Masaru Emoto’s Rice Experiment

Modernity has given us endless streams of input. We are constantly bombarded with messages telling us; what to buy, what to think, what you should eat, what you should wear, and how to behave. For the most part, these messages are not so much in our best interest as they are in the interests of bigger and better profit. Everywhere we look, it seems something is telling us we need to change something about ourselves in order to be better and more accepted. Very few streams of input seek to build us up, it seems. If only we have this look or this particular item in our possession, if only we think this way or eat this food, we could then obtain something that makes us better. Otherwise, we are both directly and indirectly, told that whom we are is unacceptable. Ultimately, these elements have led to record-setting numbers of people who feel depressed, inadequate, hopeless, dissatisfied, and faulty. In a time in history where people, in general, are more wealthy, less prone to diseases, and have greater opportunities and information, we are less content and more unhappy than ever before. It seems the Modern Era has lost a kind of connection to ourselves, a practice of introspection that seeks to improve the whole person through habits that are emotionally and physically sound, instead of motivated by profit, avarice, and outside agendas. The age old saying you are what you eat could arguably be paraphrased to say, you are what you work to be; you are as balanced as the thoughts and words you convey to yourself. Not only are we taught little in the way of self-support nowadays, but we are also told to look outside and elsewhere for instant improvements that will automatically make us better and view ourselves more positively. Yet, scientists have begun to realize the very real connection between what we think and tell ourselves and our overall health and well-being through research and study. It was for this reason Dr. Masaru Emoto an alternative-science teacher, invented the rice experiment.

In the 1990s, a rather interesting set of experiments were begun by a scientist called Dr. Masaru Emoto. Dr. Emoto felt that positive messages and verbalization were the key to affecting ourselves and the material world around us. He also felt that water, which makes up sixty percent of the human body and composed even higher percentages in organs such as the brain, heart, and lungs, was a conduit that could demonstrate how positive and negative messaging affects reality. 

To demonstrate the power of positive thoughts, Dr. Masaru Emoto, a Japanese researcher, and an alternative-science teacher, invented the rice experiment. Emoto reckons that human consciousness has an effect on the molecular structure of water and that water can react to positive thoughts and emotions. He even believed that positive thoughts and talks could remove pollution from the water.

To demonstrate his theories, Dr. Emoto created his now-famous Rice Experiment. He felt that human thoughts made up of energy were so powerful that they could change reality. His experiment was conducted over a thirty-day period in which he placed equal amounts of cooked rice into three jars along with an equal amount of water. He then put labels on two of the jars indicating how they would be treated, so to speak. The first was labeled Thank You, and would receive positive messages. The second jar was designated with the title, You Idiot! This jar of rice and water would receive negative messages and communications. The third jar was his control and, therefore, received no label.

• The Thank You Jar – He said thank you from the bottom of his heart. He used the emotion of gratefulness to talk to this jar.  
• The You Idiot Jar – He yelled Youre an Idiot to it and felt angered and frustrated as he said those words.  
• The No Label Jar – He didnt pay any attention to this rice jar. He simply remained ignorant of it. He used the emotion of indifference for the third jar.

 . . . At the end of the 30th day, these were his observations-

The jar that he thanked everyday fermented spectacularly. It didnt have any black mold or rotting material growing from it.

The jar that he bullied or took out his anger on had turned black. It was covered in black mold.

The jar that he ignored for 30 days had even more black mold in it, yes, more than the You Idiot rice jar. According to Dr. Emoto, the rice in the jar had rotted.

Dr. Emoto concluded that the positive messages conveyed to the rice and water had helped it improve and flourish. It had fermented nicely without any rot or mold. Conversely, he saw that the rice and water receiving negative and hateful messages had reflected these negativities by decay and foul smell. Strangest, however, was the neglected jar. It had completely rotted and was utterly ruined. With his findings, Dr. Emoto argued that the power of thoughts and words could literally change realities and our corporeal structures, which affect our health, both mental and physical.