The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga)

A comprehensive manual of Buddhist doctrine and meditation, composed in Pali by Buddhaghosa at the Great Monastery (Mahāvihāra) in Anurādhapura, Sri Lanka, and since then the most influential work outside the canon in the Theravāda tradition. It takes as its frame a verse on the inner and outer tangle of craving, and organises the whole path under the three trainings. The first part, on virtue (sīla), covers monastic discipline and ascetic practices. The second, on concentration (samādhi), describes forty meditation subjects, including the earth and colour devices (kasiṇa), the foul aspects of the body, recollections of the Buddha and of death, mindfulness of breathing, the four divine abodes such as loving-kindness, and the formless attainments, along with the powers they are said to bring. The third, on understanding (paññā), analyses the aggregates, sense bases, elements, faculties, four noble truths and dependent origination, then sets out seven purifications and the stages of insight leading to liberation.

It is the classic map of Theravāda meditation and doctrine, and gives the fullest traditional account of how calm and insight practices fit together on the path to liberation.