with him any other Object of Contemplation. And he us'd to help himself
in this by violently turning himself round, in which when he was very
violently exercis'd, all manner of sensible Objects vanish'd out of his
sight, and the Imagination, and all the other Faculties which make any
use of the Organs of the Body grew Weak; and on the other side, the
Operations of his Essence, which depended not on the Body, grew strong,
so that at sometimes his Meditation was pure and free from any Mixture,
and he beheld by it the necessarily self-existent Being: But then again
the Corporeal Faculties would return upon him, and spoil his
Contemplation, and bring him down to the lowest Degree where he was
before. Now, when he had any Infirmity upon him which interrupted his
Design, he took some kind of Meat, but still according to the
aforemention'd Rules; and then remov'd again to that State of Imitation
of the Heavenly Bodies, in these three Respects which we have mention'd;
and thus he continued for some time opposing his Corporeal Faculties,
and they opposing him, and mutually struggling one against another, and
at such times as he got the better of them; and his Thoughts were free
from Mixture; he did apprehend something of the Condition of those, who
have attained to the _third_ Resemblance.

§ 82. Then he began to seek after this _third_ Assimulation, and took
pains in the attaining it. And first he consider'd the Attributes of the
_necessarily self-existent Being_. Now it had appear'd to him, during
the time of his Theoretical Speculation, before he enter'd upon the
Practical Part; that there were two Sorts of them, _viz_. Affirmative,
as Knowledge, Power and Wisdom &c. and Negative, as Immateriality; not
only such as consisted in the not being _Body_; but in being altogether
remov'd from any thing that had the least Relation to _Body_, though at
never so great a Distance. And that this was a Condition, not only
requir'd in the Negative Attributes, but in the Affirmative too, _viz_.