In The Great Cessation-Contemplation (shamata-vipassana), Master Zhizhe talked about four kinds of samadhi: the samadhi of always sitting, the samadhi of always walking or standing, the samadhi of half walking and half sitting, and the samadhi of neither walking nor sitting. The first samadhi is always cultivation through sitting meditation, specifically the cultivation of the four dhyanas and eight samadhis. The second samadhi of always walking or standing is rarely practiced, because it requires practitioners to be standing all the time-one cannot lie, sit, or sleep, only can move around or stand. The third samadrii of half walking and half sitting allows sitting, standing, and moving, and that is largely the practice in Chan. In the fourth samadhi of neither walking nor sitting, any posture or situation is appropriate so long as one is applying the principle of Chan.

Fifth Dhyana Level

The fifth dhyana is the dhyana of the Supreme Vehicle, also called the Dhyana of the Tathagata.5 It is also called the Dhyana of the Patriarch because it refers to Bodhidharma, the first patriarch of Chan Buddhism. This is the dhyana of sudden enlightenment and does not require the four dhyanas and eight samadhis. In fact, it is basically the method of no method. When there is no wandering thought in the mind, that is the wisdom of Chan. Though originally transmitted by Bodhidharma, it underwent further development within the Chan School. The dhyana transmitted by Bodhidharma has two aspects: entry by practice and entry by principle. Entry by practice is through cultivation of the methods of enlightenment; entry by principle is through directly perceiving emptiness.