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138 of which is nothing but Maya—illusion—shadow-play.

Let us not deceive ourselves. Along with the recent revelations of physical science there comes, say certain modern philosophers, the suspicion that the universe is irrational. At every point we are brought up short by the unknowable.

For example, Einstein tells us that what we call the “ether” has no existence. It is merely a void.”—But how can we call that void which contains something—undulations, to wit ?

“Nay!” you argue; “the undulations traverse the ether, but they are not it. The ether is a non-entity. It has no existence. It is nothing.”

To which I reply: “But ‘nothing’ is an absolute term. It means ‘no thing’, How, then, can undulations, or anything else for that matter, pass through nothing ? ”

“What nonsense !” you cry ; “this kind of verbal poser is just the silly old metaphysicians’ parlour game of playing with words.”

I know it is. But the word-play has its uses. It demonstrates to us that words, language, logic, all alike, fail our thought, not so much because those instruments are limited in power as because the thought itself is lacking in precision and comprehensiveness.

It is when our word-play probes the expression