Metta towards a non-sentient entity or substance (e.g. rice)?
Upvote:1
Is there a Buddhist tradition or practice, which involves developing or showing metta towards a non-sentient entity ... for example, towards a jar of rice?
Not that I know of.
If not, why not?
This essay says,
These four attitudes are said to be excellent or sublime because they are the right or ideal way of conduct towards living beings (sattesu samma patipatti). They provide, in fact, the answer to all situations arising from social contact.
Rice isn't a "living being", and one does not have "social contact" with rice.
Also I don't think that rice is capable of "suffering" (because it isn't sentient; it's inanimate), and so it's not a suitable object for "metta".
Is it theoretically possible (according to Buddhist theory) that such a practice might have an effect, an effect not only on the mind of the practitioner but also on the object
I don't think so. I think you're asking that the rice last longer before spoiling, that it be less impermanent; and I don't remember seeing doctrine which I could construe as saying that "wishing that something were less impermanent is enough make it so".
Conversely there's doctrine about doing rather than wishing: saying e.g. if you want a long life then you should do things which are conducive to long life (not just wish for it).
Perhaps being careful about preparing the rice you care for, and doing something such as cleaning the jar more carefully or sealing the jar more tightly, might show an experimental effect.
Upvote:1
Metta is practitioner's consciousness that thinking to make happy consciousness arise in the other lives. (sukhī attānaṃ pariharantu)
Rice never have happy consciousness arising.
Masuro Emoto's rice experiment was just utuniyāma. That experiment was just regular of nature. It doesn't mean rice has consciousness arising.
Upvote:1
Metta is practiced in order to overcome the feeling of negativity and alienation towards the world in the practitioner's mind. The grudge towards the world is replaced with compassion for the people. If this negativity is not removed it remains a drain of emotional energy and precludes attainment of Jhanas.
Since no-one normally has grudge against rice or apple, Metta towards it is a nonsensical concept.
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