.
.
Capacity for Hearing; As Audiologist for some twenty years in practice, it soon became apparent to me, because of knowledge received from Lord Krishna through A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, that the experiencer of hearing sounds had a capacity that adapted to the stimulus provided, that he was a capacity to sense, rather than being the senses or a mere accumulation of them.
For example, the human ear hears in a range from 12.5 Hertz dull bass tone at bottom, to high-pitched 12,000Hz., typically. Noise exposure such as close to mrdanga and karatalas can damage some of the nerves of hearing, specifically in a range of 3,000 to 6000 Hz., plus "aging" reduces our capacity to hear higher pitches as the body changes in aging. But put a hearing aid on this person that amplifies frequncies in that specific range, then they soon can hear more like normal again.
So, the experiencer, the "self", has a built-in capacity to sense, is inherently sensual. The body delivers the signals, or not, but the capacity to sense is there even if the physical apparatus is damaged and can no longer send those specific signals to the brain etc. A person with no inner ear, if a stimulus is provided to the brain appropriately, will "hear" a sound. The soul displays a capacity to engage the world expressed through whatever body or means is currently given to it.
Similarly, a person using a computor has access to information , but the capacity to use that information lies with the human, not the computor. The human body also delivers signals to the soul who experiences the world from a place that is independent of the mere physical body senses. He is sat-cit, eternal and sensual, yet rides the body which is a machine made of material energy. " dehino smin yatha dehe, kaumaram yauvanam jara..." "the embodied souls passes from youth to mid-age to old age...but the self-realized sage is not bewildered by these changes."
It appears then that the body is like a limiter on a car motor, which allows speed within a range set by the manufacturer, or a tuned radio, adjusted to one specific band at a time. The body and its senses allow the soul to percieve aspects of the world pertinent to the body inhabited and the karma that created the whole situation, and not others. Our experiences are "tuned", but when we tune in to the Absolute realm, our capacities are awakened, our sastra inform us.
Scientific discoveries or insights can have true value when guided and understood through the eyes of sastra. Then there is every chance for the self to become free of all limitations of karma and material life, which otherwise limit the self and bar true self-knowledge and expression and loving service.
Replies