Visuddimagga. One of the most important books of post-canonical literature in Theravāda Buddhism. Buddhaghosa, its author, is credited with having restored to the Pali language some of the prestige that it had yielded to Sanskrit by the 5th c. CE. It sets forth the three stages of the Buddhist life with a detailed description of each: morality, meditation, and wisdom (sīla, samādhi, and Paññā). It is an exposition of the Buddhist "Eightfold Path" to perfection.

Geddes MacGregor, Dictionary of Religion and Philosophy, New York: Paragon House, 1989