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 end the cycle of suffering, 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 desire and aversion for the world. They meditate observing an aspect of feelings—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of desire and aversion for the world. They meditate observing an aspect of the mind—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of desire and aversion for the world. They meditate observing an aspect of principles—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of desire and aversion for the world.

• DN22.1. Observing the Body

• • DN22.1.1. Mindfulness of Breathing

  • DN22.1.2. The Postures

  • DN22.1.3. Situational Awareness

  • DN22.1.4. Focusing on the Repulsive

  • DN22.1.5. Focusing on the Elements

  • DN22.1.6. The Charnel Ground Contemplations

• DN22.2. Observing the Feelings

• DN22.3. Observing the Mind

• DN22.4. Observing Principles

• • DN22.4.1. The Hindrances

  • DN22.4.2. The Aggregates

  • DN22.4.3. The Sense Fields

  • DN22.4.4. The Awakening Factors

  • DN22.4.5. The Truths

  • • DN22.4.5.1. The Truth of Suffering

    • DN22.4.5.2. The Origin of Suffering

    • DN22.4.5.3. The Cessation of Suffering

    • DN22.4.5.4. The Path