Thus I have heard: One time, the Buddha was staying at Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park in Jeta’s Grove of Śrāvastī.
There was then a certain monk who came to visit the Buddha. He bowed his head at the Buddha’s feet and withdrew to stand at one side. He then said to the Buddha, “Bhagavān, as the Bhagavān says ‘attain nirvāṇa in the present life,’ how does a monk attain nirvāṇa in the present life?”
The Buddha told the monk, “Good, good! Do you want now to know about nirvāṇa in the present life?”
The monk said to the Buddha, “Indeed, Bhagavān.”
The Buddha told the monk, “[Listen closely!] Listen closely, and consider it well. I will explain it for you.”
The Buddha told the monk, “Becoming disillusioned with form, becoming free of desire for it, and completely ceasing it, he doesn’t create the contaminants, and his mind is properly liberated. This is called a monk who attains nirvāṇa in the present life. Thus with feeling … conception … volition … awareness, becoming disillusioned with awareness, becoming free of desire for it, completely ceasing it, he doesn’t create the contaminants, and his mind is properly liberated. This is called a monk who attains nirvāṇa in the present life.”
When that monk heard what the Buddha taught, he celebrated and rejoiced. He then bowed and departed.