Clapping

for
Holistic Health

Dr.
Shriniwas
Kashalikar
 The religious decrees, commandments, precepts,
rituals, conventions, traditions are generally evolved
with enlightenment as their root, fountainhead, core,
basis or foundation. In case of Hindu traditions;
(and possibly Chinese, Mesopotamian, Mayan and
such other traditions) the enlightenment is
cumulative and of thousands of anonymous seekers
of truth, sages and seers, besides thousands of
known ones! In case of some other religious
traditions it is the enlightenment of a prophet.

In other words, the traditions arise out of

enlightenment and are aimed at and expected to
culminate in enlightenment. In other words the
traditions are born out of holistic health and are
aimed at holistic health.

However, as the time passes, the enlightenment, the

wisdom and objective of the traditions becomes
inconspicuous and obscure. This leads to blind and
mechanical following of the traditions, which in turn
results in degeneration and distortion of the
traditions. These distorted traditions eventually
become coercive, suffocating and disruptive and at
best redundant.

One such tradition the basis of which has become

obscure is clapping.

It is true that we clap on many occasions which are

not religious traditions. We actually clap
spontaneously to cheer as an expression of
appreciation, excitement and joy!

But more regularly, we Hindus clap during musical

prayers called bhajans and aratis.

Whether the clapping is thoughtfully included in

prayers or otherwise, the clapping has some distinct
physiological benefits conducive to development of
holistic health.

The hands have relatively large areas of

representation in cerebral cortex. Clapping
therefore stimulates the corresponding large areas
of brain; and is probably useful in activating,
energizing and vitalizing the central nervous system
and the central nervous control mechanisms in the
brain. The quantitative and qualitative aspects of
clapping; on neuroendocrine, endocrine and
metabolic activities; and on various psychosomatic
diseases; has to be investigated. It is also logical to
guess and hypothesize that clapping could benefit to
some extent in cases of depression of varying
degrees.

Those involved in physiology of exercise, sports,

athletics and gymnastics and fitness in general can
study the specific advantages of clapping from
performance point of view and clapping can be
advised as a part of routine workout for the their
students and clients!

The investigators and the practitioners in the field of

acupressure and/or reflexology can do it similarly in
their field.

For rest of us we can clap enthusiastically whenever

it is feasible and comfortable with great respect and
 gratitude for the ancestors of mankind and try o
search the wisdom hidden within other traditions!
This is possible by total blossoming through the
practice of NAMASMARAN.

But, what is NAMASMARAN?

Namasmaran means; remembering the name of
God, Guru, great souls; such as prophets and holy
objects such as planets and stars. It may be
remembered silently, loudly, along with music,
dance, along with breathing, in group or alone,
either with counting by rosary (called SMARANI or
JAPAMALA) or without counting. The traditions
vary from region to region and from religion to
religion.

However the universal principle underlying

NAMASMARAN is to reorient your physiological
being with your true self. In fact while reorienting
with true self you aim to establish and strengthen
the bond or connection; between; your physiological
being; with your true self. You aim at reunification
with yourself!

Since remembering your true self is the pinnacle of

or culmination of individual consciousness, and
individual consciousness is the culmination of every
activity in life, remembering any name of God or
Guru (any symbol of your true self) is equivalent to
opening the final common pathway for the
individual consciousness associated with every
possible activity to get funneled into or unified with
objective or cosmic consciousness.

Thus NAMASMARAN is in fact the

YOGA of YOGA in the sense that it is the
culmination of consciousness associated with every
possible procedure and technique in the yoga that
you are familiar with. It is the YOGA of YOGA
because it is the culmination of consciousness
associated with all the activities in the universe,
which it encompasses as well! It is YOGA of YOGA
because everybody in the world irrespective of
his/her tradition and the beliefs; would eventually,
 ultimately and naturally reach it; in the process of
liberation. Even so called non believers also would
not “miss” the “benefit of remembering the true self
through one symbol or another”!

Just as NAMASMARAN is YOGA of YOGA it is

meditation of meditation also! It is the natural and
ultimate climax of every form of meditation.

These facts however have to be realized with

persistent practice of NAMSMARAN and not
blindly believed or blindly disbelieved with casual
approach!

In short NAMSMARAN is super-bounty of cosmic

consciousness for every individual to realize it
(cosmic consciousness)! This is truly a super-bounty
because a person, who experiences it, rises above
mercenary, commercial and even professional and
charity planes and manifest super- transactions in
his or her life!
These are just few observations to give rough idea
about what is NAMASMARAN.
NAMASMARAN is an ocean of bliss. Its true
meaning is beyond description in words and has to
be experienced, most preferably not by one or two;
but, by billions!