The Fourth Patriarch, Tao-hsin (580-65l), similarly stressed the importance of zazen. For the novice, he advocated contemplation of the five aggregates of human existence: corporeality. feeling, perception, mental formation, and consciousness. In his Methods for Entering the Path and Calming the Mind (Ju-tao an-hsin yao fang-pien men), Tao-hsin quoted an earlier text;

One should contemplate the five aggregates as originally empty, quiescent, non-arising, non-perishing, equal, and without differentiation. Constantly thus practicing, day or night, whether sitting, walking, standing, or lying down, one finally reaches an inconceivable state without any obstruction or form. This is called the Samadhi of One Act.

Tao-hsin's disciple, the Fifth Patriarch Hung-jen (600-674), is said to have foregone sleep to meditate all night. In his essay "Treatise on the Essentials of Cultivating the Mind" (Hsiu-hsin yao lun) he taught, "When the mind is placed at one point, there is nothing that cannot be attained." The one-pointedness to which he referred was not samadhi, but one's original or true mind.