Dear Students:

It is not easy to understand what you should read during the vacation. We do not know you yet but look forward to getting to know you well.

We have selected some readings and downloaded books. )

In the case of the books, we have made suggestions of which parts to read.

1. The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Copra

In this book we select the first two chapters and if you have time, also read Chapter 4.

Chapter 1 Modern Physics-A Path with a Heart? (Page 17)

Chapter 2 Knowing and Seeing (Page 26)

Chapter 4 The New Physics (Page 52)

Why this book?

This book introduces the reason why we see and think separately, why we still think that the body and mind are separate and, consequently, why we still perceive the world as separate from us. It gives us an introduction to the meaning of unity and consciousness that underlines Asian philosophy and religions, and which expresses the same understanding of contemporary physics (relativity and quantum physics).

It gives an introduction to �seeing� in Asian philosophy and in physics, and the difficulties that we have to translate this into a verbal language. It is something that you can only experience or express with mathematic language (the concept of unity). This book explains the approach that science and Asian mystics use to convey understanding; this is the base of our methodology.

Chapter 4 explains contemporary physics. It gives an introduction to the observer and explains time and space.

2. The Fourth Way. A Record of Talks and Answers to Questions based on the Teaching of G.I. Gurdjieff by Ouspensky

In this book we select the first three chapters.

Why this book?

This book is not easy to read at all, or it has not been easy for us. As all books that talk about mystic practice, the best way is to read it with out stopping. If you do not understand do not worry just jump on the next paragraph, underline only things that you think are already part of your life, that vibrate on you when they enter in your brain. We cannot understand what we did not experience and this book is about experience. Every time that we read this book something appears that we did not see before.

The reason we suggest this book is because it is one of the bases of our art practice and, in a creative way, one of the instruments that we use to evolve our consciousness. For sure what we understood is that self-study and self-observation are necessary to improve ourselves and only if we experiment on ourselves can go out in the field and suggest some visions or methodology to others.

In the workshops we will experience with simple exercises some of the Gurdjeff�s theses: Man is a machine -Self-observation—Self remembering—Change of attitudes — Observation of functions—Identification— Prison and escape— Study of obstacles— The different 'I'—States of consciousness and functions—Study of functions of the four centres. In our methodology all of these concepts are used/translated and experimented in order to simplify the human been dynamics in a group.

3. In search of the miraculous. Fragments of an unknown teaching by Ouspensky,

For the people that do not like theory, all the basic information of �The Fourth Way� is written here in the form of a novel.

4. Civic Urbanism: Toward an Anthropology of the Urban Phantom by Armando Silva

Why this book?

This essay it is about psychology of urban imaginaries and how it is possible to change the perception of a city or an urban space if we insert new temporal paradigm. There is an interesting concept: �the city as an art form.�

What is very important to know about these readings is that--even if they have been very important for us--we do not want to impose anything. So they are our suggestions. But also feel free to surf into these books like an adventure or take one concept suggested in these writings and explore it in your own practice/ life or in other books.

Stefania and Federica