At the beginning of a though (Viaticum: Books I and II)

This little book, with a significant title, includes the Books I and II of the Viaticum. It has been entirely rewritten by the author, given that the oldest notebooks had been destroyed a long time ago. It is the first one in a collection of opuscules in which Lanza did not intend to tell his life story but traced his intellectual history. But some “scraps” remained the author completed by memory. We find an already very clearly defined outline of the upcoming system. From Lanza’s childhood to the beginning of his studies in philosophy in Florence (1921), including the last years of high school in Paris, an original thought takes shape with a precociousness which is not doubtful. There, we can see how, through the sensible wonder, Lanza del Vasto tries to penetrate the darkness of the world and builds an air image, which ascends step by step towards the infinite height. How oneself and the being are also revealed through daily experiences, in their emotional, social and political aspects.

Read an excerpt from "Enfance d'une pensée"