In his fifty-three years of life (1942-1995), Lex Hixon, an accomplished poet, philosopher, and spiritual practitioner, explored extensively the truth of the great religious traditions. His spiritual explorations began early in life when he encountered the existential Christianity of Kierkegaard, the study of Zen through Alan Watts, and the father of a college roommate, Vine Deloria Senior, a Lakota Sioux Episcopal priest. This led him to receive his Ph.D. in world religions from Columbia University in 1976. During his ten years as a graduate student, Hixon became a well-known radio journalist, broadcasting a show called "“In the Spirit”" over New York radio. In 1980, Hixon accepted the formal responsibility as a spiritual guide, or Sheikh, in the seven-hundred-year-old Khalwati-Jerrahi Order from Egypt and Istanbul. Also in 1980, he made Hajj (the traditional Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina).The Heart of the Qur’anis just one book that emerged from his Islamic experience during this time. Hixon also wrote Mother of the Buddhas and Mother of the Universe. In 1995, Lex Hixon passed away as he had lived, consciously, happily, and spiritually.
