the Mind. In it, he quoted from the Lankavatara Sutra
　　   and the Wen-shu  shuo po-jo ching   文殊说般若经.  The
　　   Prajna  Sutra  Spoken  by Manjusri.  He stresses  the
　　   importance  of tso-ch'an for the beginner, with
　　   emphasis on the right posture. The neophyte must then
　　   contemplate the five skandhas the material skandha of
　　   form (the elements), and the four mental   skandhas  :
　　   feeling,  perception, phenomena,  and   consciousness.
　　   The Manjusri  Sutra says, "He should contemplate  the
　　   five skandhas as originally  empty and quiescent,
　　   non-arising,　　 non-perishing,　　 equal,　　 without
　　   differentiation.  Constantly  thus practicing, day or
　　   night, whether  sitting, walking, standing   or  lying
　　   down, finally  one  reaches  an   inconceivable  state
　　   without any obstruction or form.  This is the Samadhi
　　   of One Act (I-hsing sanmei) 一行三昧."
　　　　  In a sense, the Fourth Patriarch  is  describing
　　   the two meanings of tso-ch'an in Ch'an. In the
　　   beginning  the  practitioner   starts  by  taking  the
　　   sitting posture. He will use simple and basic methods
　　   of  regulation  the  body   and  mind.  At an advanced
　　   stage,
　　  
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　　   he will not be limited to sitting, but in any posture,
　　　　 his mind will be in accord with the   Samadhi  of
　　   One Act.
　　　　  His disciple, the Fifth Patriarch Hung-jen (602-
　　   675), wrote an essay, Hsiu-hsing Yao Lun,   修行要论,
　　   The Essentials of Cultivation, which emphasizes
　　   sitting. He quoted from the I-chiao ching 遗教经, The
　　   Sutra of the Buddha's  Last Bequest, which says "When
　　   the  mind  is placed  at one point, there  is nothing
　　   that cannot be attained." The one-pointedness of mind
　　　　 to which he referred was not samadhi,   but  one's
　　   original or true mind. He also said that correct posture
　　   is critical. Beginners  should,  for   example,
　　   follow the Kuan wu-liang shou fo ching 观无量寿佛经,
　　   Sutra of Contemplation on the  Buddha   of  Unlimited
　　   Life, which says that one should  sit   upright  with
　　   correct thoughts, closing one's eyes and mouth,   and
　　   sit day and night. From many sources we can see that
　　   the Fifth Patriarch did sit a lot.  The   Biographies
　　   of Eminent Monks 高僧传 describe the Fifth Patriarch
　　   foregoing  sleep to sit all night. In the same book,
　　   Shen-hsiu 神秀（active 671-706）, a disciple of Hung
　　   -jen 弘忍 and founder of the Northern Branch   of the
　　   Ch'an School, is  described  as   taking tso-ch'an as