A true path I remained in the US for a year and returned during consecutive summers to see him again. All in all I had more than a hundred lessons; today I feel the need to share what I experienced. I'm aware that trying to do so amounts to a near-impossibility and that teaching of such richness, based upon warm and attentive listening to the student can be properly transmitted only in person. Nevertheless I hope that my message - which is not a thesis, but a simple memento - may contribute to the perpetuation of James Stamp's teaching. In this first installment I review some of the basic principles of his teaching. --the author