Emphasis on Phonetics
The effect of sound in the temple, and the temple itself, was an arrangement for experimentation. As long as the effect of the sound of a word was not understood, the whole experiment was meaningless. For example, it was a convention that a mantra should only be given to a disciple by a master. The emphasis was on the mantra being recited by the master in the disciple’s ear. You might have known the mantra for a long time, but still the master would whisper it in your ear. You might wonder, ”What is new in this? Couldn't I have done it without the master? Everybody knows how to repeat a mantra, and still this master has whispered it to me as if it is a great secret!”. But what is to be understood is that when the master says it in the disciple’s ear, he does it in a particular way, so as to emphasize certain sounds – something which is not known to all.