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Here is an excerpt from an article, entitled "The Role of Sound in
Meditation", which I thought might interest people:

"..Why do we use sound in meditation? Why not use one of the other
senses or faculties, since touch, sight, taste, and smell must also
possess increasingly subtler forms until they reach the point of
their emerging? It is true that these four faculties do have subtle
forms, but only sound reaches to the ultimate point of emergence.

The five senses correspond to the five elements of which all things
consist. Those elements are ether, air, fire, water, and earth. That
is, their grossest forms are those of sound, sight, touch, taste, and
smell as perceived by the bodily senses. Because of this we use these
terms to refer to them. But the water element is not just the liquid
we call “water.” It is much, much more, having roots into the astral
and causal planes. The same is true of the other elements.

When relative existence, individual or cosmic, begins, there is a
chain of manifestation. First there is the out-turning of the
consciousness itself. This modification on the cosmic level is the
emerging of the Mahat Tattwa, the Great Element, that is the Personal
or Saguna Brahman, spoken of in Christianity as “the Only-begotten of
the Father” or “Son” of God. In the individual this is the sense of
asmita : I-am-ness. Then the Pradhana [Prakriti] modifies itself into
the five elements, beginning with the ether, and each succeeding
element contains within itself some of the preceding elements. That
is, air is not “pure” but is air mixed with some ether. Fire
possesses some of the ether and air element. Water has some fire,
air, and ether. Earth has some water, fire, air, and ether. So only
ether is unmixed, and only ether is “touching” the principle of
individualized consciousness. In other words, only ether is in direct
contact with the spirit. Yet ether [akasha] pervades all the other
elements as their prime constituent–actually as their source and core
element. Sound is the quality (or faculty) of ether; touch is the
quality of air; sight is the quality of fire; taste is the quality of
water; and smell is the quality of earth. Sound, then, is the only
thing that reaches back to the principle of consciousness. The other
elements stop somewhere along the way.

The five elements also correspond to the five levels or bodies known
as koshas: the anandamaya, jnanamaya, manomaya, pranamaya, and
annamaya bodies. These are the intelligence, intellectual, mental
(sensory), biomagnetic, and physical bodies. The highest (most
subtle) body is the etheric body (anandamaya kosha) which is the seat
of sound or speech.

Sound, then, is the direct means to return our awareness to the inmost
level of our being and put us into touch with consciousness itself.
In fact, consciousness is innate in sound. At the same time, sound
rules all the levels of our being and has the ability to.."

To read more, go to:
http://www.atmajyoti.org/me_role_of.._meditation.asp


Sorry for the teaser, but the entire article is to long for a forum.
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