The Illusion of Sound

When person A speaks, person B listens nearby, person C listens through a telephone, person D listens through a recording device, person E listens through a metal pipe, person F listens through a vacuum pipe, person G listens through a wall, person H listens through a door, and person I listens through a loudspeaker—are there any differences among the sounds these people hear? Why? When sound is transmitted through a vacuum, through air, through metal, or through an empty pipe, the sound discerned by the ear consciousness will differ accordingly.

Sound belongs to the material form of the four great elements; its transmission must pass through a medium, and without a medium it cannot be transmitted outward. Different media present different obstructions, and the speed of transmission also differs. What is meant by obstruction? It means that during the transmission process, a portion of the four-great-element particles cannot pass through the medium and is blocked or absorbed by it; then the four-great-element particles that do pass through the medium undergo changes, and the sound thus formed will be altered. The more media the sound passes through and the longer the distance, the greater the obstruction it encounters, the more particles are blocked, and the more the sound deteriorates.

The ultimate destination of sound transmission is the black box of the supreme faculty (indriya). Each person's auditory conduction nerves and the nutritive substances of the brain differ, so their effects on the sound entering the supreme faculty also differ; therefore, the sound each person hears has a certain degree of variation. This shows that the sounds we hear are not real—there is no such thing as "sound"—it is merely a mass of electrical signals and information. We all live in a virtual world of information.