Sound Is a Material Form

A tremendous sound can damage the ear bones and cause deafness. This shows that sound is a kind of material form (rūpa), possessing the impact force of material form; therefore there is tangible sense-object (sparśa-viṣaya), which contacts the material ear, thereby damaging the ear. When the coarse aspect of sound contacts the ear faculty (indriya), the ear consciousness first discerns the coarse sound, and the mind consciousness afterward discerns the subtle aspects of the sound. It is often the case that the ear consciousness first senses the vibrating sound at the ear faculty—these are the five sense-objects—and only then can the mind consciousness know what the specific sound is, along with other subtle dharmas.