Lex Hixon (1941—1995; born Alexander Paul Hixon, also known as Nur al-Anwar al-Jerrahi) 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.
Hixon was born in Pasadena, California 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. (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.
Hixon first studied prayer and meditation at the age of nineteen, with Vine Deloria, Senior, a Lakota Sioux elder and Episcopal 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. During his studies at Columbia, he studied Tibetan Buddhism and Zen.
In 1974, he began hosting a radio program on WBAI, 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.
Hixon became known as Nur al-Anwar al-Jerrahi, and became a teacher in a traditional Sufi lineage, the Jerrahi 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.
Hixon and his wife entered the Eastern Orthodox church, through the inspiration of Father Alexander Schmemann, 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.
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
