The discourse opens in the Kuru country and states its claim plainly: this is the path to the realisation of extinguishment. What follows is the method, in four parts.
Long Discourses 22 So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Kurus, near the Kuru town named Kammāsadamma. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants, “Mendicants!” “Venerable sir,” they replied. The Buddha said this: “Mendicants, the four kinds of mindfulness meditation are the path to convergence. They are in order to purify sentient beings, to get past sorrow and crying, to make an end of pain and sadness, to discover the system, and to realize extinguishment. What four? It’s when a mendicant meditates by observing an aspect of the body—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. They meditate observing an aspect of feelings—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. They meditate observing an aspect of the mind—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. They meditate observing an aspect of principles—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world.
Dīgha Nikāya 22 Evaṁ me sutaṁ— ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā kurūsu viharati kammāsadhammaṁ nāma kurūnaṁ nigamo. Tatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi: “bhikkhavo”ti. “Bhaddante”ti te bhikkhū bhagavato paccassosuṁ. Bhagavā etadavoca: “Ekāyano ayaṁ, bhikkhave, maggo sattānaṁ visuddhiyā, sokaparidevānaṁ samatikkamāya dukkhadomanassānaṁ atthaṅgamāya ñāyassa adhigamāya nibbānassa sacchikiriyāya, yadidaṁ cattāro satipaṭṭhānā. Katame cattāro? Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu kāye kāyānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṁ, vedanāsu vedanānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṁ, citte cittānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṁ, dhammesu dhammānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṁ.
The four contemplations
Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato and dedicated to the public domain under CC0. The Pali is the Mahāsaṅgīti edition, also CC0. Source: SuttaCentral.