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 in the sounds these people hear? Why? When sound is transmitted through a vacuum, through air, through metal, or through an empty pipe, the sound recognized 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; 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 transmission, a portion of the four great elemental particles cannot pass through the medium and is blocked or absorbed by it; consequently, the portion of the four great elemental particles that does pass through the medium undergoes change, and the sound 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 (rūpa-prasāda). Each person's auditory nerves and the nutrients of the brain differ, and their influence on the sound entering the supreme faculty also differs; 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"—only a mass of bioelectric signals and information. We all live in a virtual world of information.