Dr. Masaru Emoto shares his thoughts with HealingHQ.com on the supreme importance of water

Throughout history, water has held a place of supreme importance in the lives of humankind. In ancient Egypt, the god Enki, or Ea, was revered as the god of water. He was also considered the supreme being of wisdom and magic, no doubt owing to the pervasiveness of water and the vital part it plays in engendering life. And who could forget the biblical story of Noah’s ark, the immense vessel that protected God’s “righteous man” and his family and animals from the great flood? Then there was the Greek philosopher Thales, who about 4000 years ago, proclaimed water to be the origin of all matter.

Today, we know that the planet is 70 percent water. Up to 60 percent of the human body is water. The brain is composed of 70 percent water, our blood is 83 percent water and the lungs are nearly 90 percent water. Physically speaking, water is who we are. But while most of us have moved on from our ancestors’ primitive beliefs in water gods, water has continued to maintain its mythical hold on us. Even today, the Ganges River in India, long considered a sacred site, is worshipped by Hindus as a goddess. Despite the very real threat of sickness due to its increasing pollution, Hindu believers zealously immerse themselves in the 'Holy Ganga' or 'Mother Ganga.’

Some of the most remarkable claims being made about water today come from Dr. Masaru Emoto, a doctor of alternative medicine, Japanese researcher and international bestselling author. According to Emoto, our empirical explanations of H20 up until now have given us very little insight into the true ‘essence’ of this universal element – the stuff of which we are mostly made. Perhaps then, it can be deduced that we really do not understand ourselves.

Blending science and spirituality, Dr. Emoto, who heads the Hado Institute in Tokyo, has conducted experiments that demonstrate human thoughts and feelings affect the ‘state’ of water. According to Emoto and his researchers, prayers, music, or written or spoken words are directed at water before it is frozen. Depending on whether the thoughts were positive or negative, images of the resulting water crystals will be either pleasant or unsightly.

“Hado creates words. Words are the vibrations of nature. Therefore, beautiful words create beautiful nature. Ugly words create ugly nature. This is the root of the universe,” states Emoto. The word ‘hado’ (which rhymes with shadow) literally means "wave" and "move” and refers to what Emoto calls ‘resonating energy.’ “Water exists just as a mirror to the human mind….In the Bible it says that in the beginning was the Word, and I think words, whether spoken or written, are vibrations. So, going back to this saying in the Bible, we can replace, ‘In the beginning was the Word’ with ‘In the beginning there was vibration.’ The Creator made water to carry or to convey vibrations. In my long career of researching water, I have concluded that we need some sort of existence like God or the Creator or we won’t be able to answer many of our questions.”

Though he had been conducting research into the ‘mystery of water’ for more than 20 years, it wasn’t until 1999 that Emoto published The Hidden Messages in Water, a literary phenomenon that became a bestseller around the world. “I started taking pictures of water crystals and that was the same time I started to discover the power of prayer,” he has said. “It doesn’t matter if we show written words to water or if we say beautiful words to water such as ‘love’ and ‘respect.’ The water responds. I’m not a religious person at all; I have simply conducted experiments over the years and, looking at the results, I have come to believe that there is such a thing as ‘the power of prayer.’”

Emoto has continued his water book series including The True Power of Water in 2004, The Secret Life of Water in 2005 and last year’s Love Thyself: The Message from Water III, in which he states, “The common language that the people of the world have been seeking is found in water crystals. Water speaks for what is in our mind. Water awakens the subconscious memory in each person. I now know why water is indispensable to the phenomenon of life, and why alternative therapies exist and why they’re effective. Water helped me understand religion and prayer and gave me a clue to understanding the nature of energy. It helped me understand the relationship between humanity and the cosmos. I could come one step closer to understanding the eternal theme of humanity that asks where we come from, why we are here, and what happens when we die.”

Of course, such audacious assertions aren’t above reproach. While Emoto’s work has resonated with a large community of progressive scientists (particularly quantum physicists), spiritual leaders, alternative medicine doctors, and artists (including Yoko Ono), there are many who have criticized Emoto for insufficient experimental controls. In fact, in an interview published in the Maui News, Emoto stated, “I do not require any blind tests on any samples.” Instead, he considers “the researcher’s aesthetic sense and character [as] the most important aspect when taking crystal photographs.” Such statements, including his own open acknowledgement that he is not a scientist, have given critics fodder to label Emoto’s findings simply psuedoscience.

There is a Japanese saying, “Water is a reflection of your heart and soul.” It is true that our bodies and our planet are a complex composite of H2O. But whether this omnipresent element goes beyond the physical realm of our existence into the emotional, intellectual and spiritual sphere of our consciousness is still something of a mystery.

As Emoto says in Love Thyself, “I decided to choose what the world most urgently needs at present as a theme. That is, of course, the need to eliminate war and terrorism throughout the world. The theme I have chosen is ‘prayer.’ When I thought about it more deeply, I realized that prayer is most effectively sent when each person in the world raises their energy of love by imagining a scene where the peoples of the world are living in peace,” he says.

“You must shine with positive, high-spirited vibrations, and be full of love. In order to do that, I think it’s important to love, thank, and respect yourself. If that’s the case, then each of those vibrations will be sent out into the world and the cosmos…” says Emoto. “This is the message from water.”

Story by Mar Yvette