Lex Hixon
Encyclopedia
Lex Hixon was an accomplished author, poet, and spiritual teacher. He practiced and held membership in several of the world's major great religious traditions, and documented his spiritual explorations in nine books and many articles and teachings given to various groups. His conviction that all of the great religions are true found expression in his works; this idea was sparked by his study of the life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna
, who gave these radical teachings in 19th century Calcutta. It became a passionate conviction for Hixon, and he made his life a witness to this belief by fully immersing himself in multiple religious practices and studies. This was not a research project but an act of faith
.
on December 25, 1941, one of three sons of Alexander and Adelaide Hixon. He married his second wife Sheila in 1965; they had two daughters and one son. Shanti, India and Dylan (Hixon also had a daughter from a previous marriage). He graduated from Yale University
, where he majored in philosophy, and received a PhD in Comparative Religion from Columbia University
in 1976.
priest in Pierre, South Dakota
. In 1967 he began his discipleship with Swami Nikhilananda of the Ramakrishna Mission
, who headed the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center
of New York
. He also studied meditation with Swamis Prabhavananda and Aseshananda and with Sri Chinmoy
. During his studies at Columbia, he studied Tibetan Buddhism
and Zen
.
, called “In the Spirit”. The program continued for thirteen years, over which time Hixon interviewed hundreds of spiritual leaders and teachers from different traditions, including the Dalai Lama
, Mother Theresa of Calcutta, and Bawa Muhaiyaddeen
He interviewed Bawa at the station more than any other - 9 times maybe more].
Order of Dervishes. He co-founded the Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order
in the United States, named for his teacher Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak
(Ashki). He simultaneously remained involved in various religions, or as he called them, "parallel sacred worlds". His experience of being "orthodox in five different spiritual traditions" produced a unique philosophy, a "theory of relativity for religions". He touched thousands of lives with his warm, joyful manner of teaching, celebrating, and encouraging spiritual seekers of all kinds.
, and studied at St. Vladimir's Seminary in Crestwood, New York, for three years. They received guidance in meditation from Lama Tomo Geshe Rimpoche. Hixon studied Zen koans with Tetsugen Bernard Glassman
, and Glassman posthumously ordained him as a Zen sensei
.
guitar with Carlos Montoya
, and studied classical Indian music with Vasant Rai
, the sarod master.
Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna , born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay , was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda – both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the Hindu...
, who gave these radical teachings in 19th century Calcutta. It became a passionate conviction for Hixon, and he made his life a witness to this belief by fully immersing himself in multiple religious practices and studies. This was not a research project but an act of faith
Faith
Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof. In religion, faith is a belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Generally speaking, it is offered as a means by which the truth of the proposition,...
.
Life and education
Hixon was born in Pasadena, CaliforniaPasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
on December 25, 1941, one of three sons of Alexander and Adelaide Hixon. He married his second wife Sheila in 1965; they had two daughters and one son. Shanti, India and Dylan (Hixon also had a daughter from a previous marriage). He graduated from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where he majored in philosophy, and received a PhD in Comparative Religion from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 1976.
Early spiritual training
Hixon first studied prayer and meditation at the age of nineteen, with Vine Deloria, Senior, a Lakota Sioux elder and EpiscopalAnglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
priest in Pierre, South Dakota
Pierre, South Dakota
Pierre is the capital of the U.S. state of South Dakota and the county seat of Hughes County. The population was 13,646 at the 2010 census, making it the second least populous state capital after Montpelier, Vermont...
. In 1967 he began his discipleship with Swami Nikhilananda of the Ramakrishna Mission
Ramakrishna Mission
Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission are twin organizations which form the core of a worldwide spiritual movement known as Ramakrishna Movement or Vedanta Movement. The Ramakrishna Mission is a philanthropic, volunteer organization founded by Ramakrishna's chief disciple Swami Vivekananda on...
, who headed the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center
Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center
The Ramakrishna Vivekananda Center of New York is a branch of the Ramakrishna Order of India, founded in 1933 by Swami Nikhilananda. After Nikhilananda's death in 1973, the center was headed by Swami Adiswarananda until the latter's death in 2007...
of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He also studied meditation with Swamis Prabhavananda and Aseshananda and with Sri Chinmoy
Sri Chinmoy
Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, also known as Sri Chinmoy was an Indian spiritual teacher, poet, artist and athlete who immigrated to the U.S. in 1964., the founder of the religious organization "Sri Chinmoy Centre Church, Inc." better known as "Sri Chinmoy Centre"...
. During his studies at Columbia, he studied Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
and Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
.
Radio
In 1974, he began hosting a radio program on WBAIWBAI
WBAI, a part of the Pacifica Radio Network, is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station, broadcasting at 99.5 FM in New York City.Its programming is leftist/progressive, and a mixture of political news and opinion from a leftist perspective, tinged with aspects of its complex and varied...
, called “In the Spirit”. The program continued for thirteen years, over which time Hixon interviewed hundreds of spiritual leaders and teachers from different traditions, including the Dalai Lama
14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama is the 14th and current Dalai Lama. Dalai Lamas are the most influential figures in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, although the 14th has consolidated control over the other lineages in recent years...
, Mother Theresa of Calcutta, and Bawa Muhaiyaddeen
Bawa Muhaiyaddeen
Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen was a saintly Tamil-speaking teacher and Sufi mystic from the island of Sri Lanka who first came to the United States on October 11, 1971 and established the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship in Philadelphia...
He interviewed Bawa at the station more than any other - 9 times maybe more].
Islam and Sufism
Hixon became known as Nur al-Anwar al-Jerrahi, and became a teacher in a traditional Sufi lineage, the JerrahiJerrahi
The Jerrahi are a Sufi tariqah derived from the Halveti order. Their founder was Muhammad Nureddin al-Jerrahi, who died in Istanbul and is buried at the site of his tekke in Karagumruk - Istanbul...
Order of Dervishes. He co-founded the Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order
Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order
The Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order is a modern dervish order of Sufism. It is a branch of the Halveti-Jerrahi Tariqah of Istanbul, Turkey, and was founded in the early 1980s by American Sufis Nur al-Anwar al-Jerrahi and Fariha al-Jerrahi after they received direct transmission from their teacher,...
in the United States, named for his teacher Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak
Muzaffer Ozak
Muzaffer Ozak was one of the head sheikhs of the Halveti-Jerrahi order of Dervishes, a traditional muslim Sufi order from Istanbul...
(Ashki). He simultaneously remained involved in various religions, or as he called them, "parallel sacred worlds". His experience of being "orthodox in five different spiritual traditions" produced a unique philosophy, a "theory of relativity for religions". He touched thousands of lives with his warm, joyful manner of teaching, celebrating, and encouraging spiritual seekers of all kinds.
Buddhism, Christianity
Hixon and his wife entered the Eastern Orthodox Church, through the inspiration of Father Alexander SchmemannAlexander Schmemann
Alexander Schmemann was a prominent 20th century Orthodox Christian priest, teacher, and writer.-Early life:...
, and studied at St. Vladimir's Seminary in Crestwood, New York, for three years. They received guidance in meditation from Lama Tomo Geshe Rimpoche. Hixon studied Zen koans with Tetsugen Bernard Glassman
Tetsugen Bernard Glassman
Bernie Glassman , aka Tetsugen Bernard Glassman, is an American Zen Buddhist roshi and co-founder of the Zen Peacemakers , an organization established in 1996 with his late wife Sandra Jishu Holmes...
, and Glassman posthumously ordained him as a Zen sensei
Sensei
' is a Japanese word that basically means "person born before another." In general usage, it means "master" or "teacher," and the word is used as a title to refer to or address teachers, professors, professionals such as lawyers, CPA and doctors, politicians, clergymen, and other figures of authority...
.
Arts
Hixon studied flamencoFlamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
guitar with Carlos Montoya
Carlos Montoya
Carlos Montoya was a prominent Flamenco guitarist and a founder of the modern-day popular Flamenco style of music.His unique style and successful career, despite all odds, have left a great legacy for modern day Flamenco...
, and studied classical Indian music with Vasant Rai
Vasant Rai
Vasant Rai was one of world's most acclaimed performers of Indian music and virtuoso of the Indo/Persian/Afghan instrument Sarod.-Personal life and education:Rai was born in Unjha, Kutch, Gujarat and studied music in India...
, the sarod master.
Books
Lex Hixon's literary works came about from direct experience in the field of spirituality combined with intellectual refinement and human sensitivity. Being intensely involved in both the cultures and religions of the world, his was a view of universal acceptance honed by discrimination and dedicated to harmony based on unity.- Coming Home: The Experience of Enlightenment in Sacred Traditions, 1978, 1989, 1995. ISBN 0-943914-74-4
- The Heart of the Qur'an: An Introduction to Islamic Spirituality, 1988, 2003. ISBN 0-8356-0822-0
- Recolección de la Miel (Gathering Honey), 1989. ISBN
- Great Swan: Meetings with Ramakrishna, 1992, 2002. ISBN 81-208-1297-2
- Atom from the Sun of Knowledge, 1993. ISBN 9781879708051
- Illahis of Shaykh Nur al-Jerrahi, 1993. ISBN
- Mother of the Buddhas: Meditation on the Prajnaparamita Sutra, 1993. ISBN 0-8356-0689-9
- Mother of the Universe: Visions of the Goddess and Tantric Hymns of Enlightenment, 1994. ISBN 0-8356-0702-X
- Living Buddha Zen, 1995. ISBN 0-943914-75-2
- Sufi Meditation, 1997. ISBN 1-879708-10-8
- 101 Diamonds: From the Oral Tradition of the Glorious Messenger Muhammad (translator, with Fariha al-Jerrahi), 2001. ISBN 1-879708-17-5
Sources
- New York Times obituary, November 9, 1995
- Yoga Journal Interview, Jan/Feb 1991
- Zen Peacemakers website
- Coming Home, 1989 & 1995 (2nd & 3rd Editions) biographical note (note differs in each edition).
- Free Spirit Journal, April & May 1996: Article by Cassia Berman. (reproduced online here)