Holy water

Recently a friend brought a wonderful film about current scientific studies on water. Let us see some things it highlighted. The chemical composition of water is H₂O, but the structure or arrangement of the molecules of water adjusts to the surroundings. Say, if we are drinking water, our thoughts and emotions can change its quality. Thus, water mirrors the emotion we give it. Thoughts of hate or violence, or any other negative emotion makes the water molecules take on an ugly shape, reflecting our feelings.

The opposite happens with positive emotions. The scientists found that the emotions of love and gratitude energized the water and gave the molecules a beautiful shape and structure. The glass of water that we drink affects our emotions and psyche; why not give it a positive thought before drinking it? The same can be done with food that has high water content, and also with the cooking water we use. We could also give it a wish to heal.

Sanskrit has a rich collection of names for water, each reflecting a property of it. ‘Apas’ means to reach out, meaning to reach the divine. Another is ‘Parjanya’ or to sprinkle, representing water in the form of rain that gives life. Hence the belief that sprinkling water on plants could be better than just watering them. There is ‘Niram’, from ‘ni’ to lead, to guide; ‘udakam’ or to issue out, signifying the power of springing forth. ‘Kam’ or softness, ‘Salil’ from ‘sal’ or the power of movement. ‘Jal’, which means to make rich. There are many more such names. So when we drink our next glass, we can power it with any of the feelings our rishis put in the Sanskrit words.

Water also has memory. They experimented where water was subject to the music of Bach, Beethoven, and other classical composers; the molecules re-arranged into wonderful structures, which they held on to.

My teacher created a piece of music for us to breathe in rhythm. By breathing in this rhythm, the vibrations produced between the breath and our body matched the vibrations of the chanting of the Gayatri Mantra. Since watching the film, I have been putting a glass of water on the gadget that plays this music. Yes, we can all drink our glass of holy water, every day.