Aristotle made us aware of the five senses. Neuroscience and psychology has given us access to atleast a dozen more. Too bad none of them taught us how to efficiently use any.
This is probably why most people meditate with their eyes closed, or in silence. It helps when you begin, but blocking a sense, or two will only get you this far.
I'm paraphrasing dad, who paraphrased Ramana Maharshi (probably), when I say, people have blocked the wrong sense when they keep Mauna Vrata (vow of silence). They should talk all they want, and rather keep the Mauna Vrata inside their head.
In an audio program with Dr Andrew Weil, Jon Kabat-Zinn (watch Zinn's Mindfulness video at Google HQ) mentions he saw a message on a t-shirt that read "meditation is not what you think". How true! Learn to silence your mind, the senses will follow.
