Gianluca Magi is one of the greatest Italian orientalists . Philosopher and historian of religions, he is the author of best-sellers translated in 33 countries, which have sold over 200,000 copies in Italy. 

• Gianluca Magi’s career
• Gianluca Magi, the works
• The partnership with Franco Battiato

He is a psychoanalyst, instructor of autogenic training and oriental meditation disciplines. A trait d’union between East and West. Gianluca Magi is a fundamental point of reference for anyone wishing to find out if and how it is possible to make the principles of psychology and Eastern philosophy dialogue with the Western world – without distorting them in any way. 

Gianluca Magi’s career 

Gianluca Magi was born on November 18, 1970 in Pesaro. A scholar of oriental philosophies and psychologies, he has made numerous trips to the East to deepen his psychological, spiritual and linguistic interests in the field.

After an analytically oriented psychotherapeutic training, he combined theory and practice by developing a personal meditation technique that includes various approaches related to Tantrism , Sufism , Taoism , Buddhism, transpersonal psychology. A distinctive feature of this meditative technique is the ability to adapt the principles of Eastern methods to Western needs, without however losing their original essence. 

In 1997 he founded the Higher School of Oriental and Comparative Philosophy in Rimini , a research center that deals with mediating Eastern and Western thought in the philosophical and psychological fields. Here he is also scientific director, professor of Indian Philosophy, Comparative Philosophy and Comparative Psychology. 

He was professor of History of Religions in China at the Faculty of Foreign Languages ​​and Literatures and History of Philosophy and Religions and Philosophies of India at the University of Urbino. He also taught at the same university Sociology of Indian Cultures until 2012, when he decided to resign to devote himself to the dissemination of his method of evolutionary imagination through the workshops on the Hero’s Game and the Magic Circles of the Game of ‘ Hero. 

In 2013 he founded, together with the songwriter and musician Franco Battiato , the interdisciplinary center INCOGNITA , born with the aim of creating a space for discussion on Western philosophy, Indian philosophy, Chinese philosophy, Sufism, mysticism, transpersonal psychology and experiences on the verge of death. 

Gianluca Magi, the works

A prolific writer capable of climbing the charts of successful books, in his works he deals with spirituality, human and personal evolution, beauty and justice . His publications include:

For Editions The Meeting Point:

• The finger and the moon (2002), with a preface by Gabriel Mandel Khan;
• The 36 Stratagems (2003), with a presentation by Franco Battiato;
• Sanjiao. The three pillars of Chinese wisdom (2006);
• La Via dell’Umorismo (2008), with a presentation by Alejandro Jodorowsky;
• The Code of Power (2011);
• Il Gioco dell’Eroe (2012), bestseller with presentation by Franco Battiato;

For Einaudi:

• The noble art of insult (2006), with a preface by Michele Serra.

For Bompiani:

• Primary and secondary indological voices in Philosophical Encyclopedia (2006);
• Life is a state of mind (2009).

For Sperling & Kupfer:

• The 64 Enigmas (2015);
• The hidden treasure. 100 Sufi Lessons (2017).
• 101 spiritual jokes, with a preface by Alejandro Jodorowsky  (2020).

The partnership with Franco Battiato

On the occasion of the painting exhibition Mysticism of the East and of the West, in 2003 Gianluca Magi met the musician and songwriter Franco Battiato , with whom he established a partnership destined to last a long time. 

In 2005, Magi participated as an expert in Taoist strategy in the television program Bitte, keine réclame , hosted by Battiato for Rai. In 2006 he made a cameo in Battiato’s film Nothing is as it seems , together with Chilean director and writer Alejandro Jodorowsky. 

The collaboration does not end over the years and Battiato prepares the preface to the bestsellers of Magi The 36 stratagems and Il Gioco dell’Eroe . “ The Hero’s Game is a large stone thrown into a still pond –  writes the singer introducing the second book -. A direct invitation to the interior life, and to its (inevitable) evolutionary transmutation ”. 

In 2013, Battiato joined Gianluca Magi in the scientific direction of the Higher School of Oriental and Comparative Philosophy. In 2016, the two together wrote The intermediate state , published by Arte di Being. In 2017 they founded the INCOGNITA interdisciplinary center in Pesaro : here they bring to the center of the dialogue all the issues that united them and that, even today, are dear to both of them.