it would be, because your mind has never been trained to think in
these realms."

"No," answered Paul, turning uneasily in his chair, dazed by the
marvelous pageant that moved constantly about them. "No, I admit that
it has not, and that the whole thing is utterly beyond me; and this,
none the less, because I am aware that one of the fundamental facts
of nature is that two things can not occupy the same space at the
same time. My previous education, instead of helping me, makes the
situation more difficult. The Guir estate and this city can not both
be here at once; of that I am sure."

"That is a mere assumption on the part of materialists," answered
Ah Ben. "Not only two things, but ten million things, can occupy the
same space at the same time; for what is space, and what is time?
They are mental conditions, as are all the phenomena of nature.
Even your scientist will tell you that the infinite ether penetrates
all substances, and that cast-steel or a diamond contains as much
of this mysterious element as any other space of equal size. The
varying vibrations of this ether, or universal akasa, make the world
and all that is in it; and these vibrations are interpenetrable and
non-obstructive. Even on the material plane we see how the vibrations
of light and heat penetrate those of visible and tangible substance,
and how, in your more recent discoveries, light rays penetrate solid
metals formerly called opaque. When I say that these vibrations are
interpenetrable and non-obstructive, the statement must be taken as
approximating the truth, and not as a finality, independent of all
conditions; for by the power of the will, or as a result of mental
habit, a man may either exclude or admit to his consciousness the
thought vibrations of others. But you may set it down as a fundamental