In the Spirit: the Life and Work of Lex Hixon

Introduction

An undated photograph of Lex Hixon. Courtesty of Sheila Hixon.

Lex Hixon (Yale ’63) was a scholar, writer, radio host and spiritual seeker. A devotee of Ramakrishna, Hixon believed all religions to be true paths towards God and liberation. During his lifetime, Hixon was a teacher, and the host of In the Spirit, a weekly radio broadcast on WBAI, New York City’s Pacifica radio station. Hixon was formally involved in five distinct religious traditions: Sufism, Hinduism, Tibetan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and wrote books based on his experiences. 

Beyond his work as a writer and traveler on the spiritual path, Hixon counseled many. His writings introduced the works of Ramakrishna, the 18th century poet Ramprasad, the transmissions of Shakyamuni Buddha, and meditations on the Qur’an to American audiences. Thousands of listeners in the New York City area tuned into his Sunday morning radio show during the 1970s and early 1980s. Hixon, as host, interviewed spiritual leaders, seekers, and proponents of alternative ways of being. Hixon died of cancer on All Saint’s Day (November 1st) in 1995 at the age of 53. 

In 1992, Hixon contributed an essay to the anthology The Way Ahead: Entering the New Millenium. In “Joint Citizenship in Parallel Sacred Worlds” he wrote: 

“Sacred traditions exist not to bind or suppress but to free us, both personally and collectively, from narrow subjectivity which usually remains unconscious. However, the sense of sacredness does not imply naivete. Even the most genuine traditions fall into delusions and partial perspectives, needing to be constantly renewed by the living Truth at their core. We do not enter a sacred world to engage in fantasy but to unveil Truth in order to facilitate the fullest future for humanity.”

Hixon understood every person to be on a spiritual path and treated the act of living our human lives as deep spiritual work. Some may be more aware of the impact of sacred traditions on their beings; he termed these folks spiritual seekers. But he believed that making sense of life’s events is a deep spiritual practice, available to all.  

This exhibit explores Hixon’s life and work using archival materials from the Lex Hixon Papers, housed in the Divinity Library Special Collections. This collection was received as a gift from the Hixon family and was processed in 2025 by Colette Harley. 

This exhibit was curated by Colette Harley, Lex Hixon Archivist, Yale Divinity Special Collections.

Thank you to Scott Libson, Special Collections Librarian, Yale Divinity Library, Matthew Gorham, Assistant Director for Archival Description at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Kathryn Lofton, Lex Hixon Chair in Religious Studies and American Studies, Joan Duffy, Senior Archives Assistant, and the Hixon family, for their help, guidance and support. Additional thanks to the staff of the Divinity Library: Cliff Anderson, Suzanne Estelle-Holmer, Jude Morrissey and Graziano Krätli, and Samantha Callahan and Steve Aitken from the Yale Office of the University Printer.