COMING HOME is a valuable book. In a collection of essays, Lex Hixon sensitively describes the finest aspects of many sacred traditions, including Sufism, Zen Buddhism, Christianity, and Hasidic Judaism. Each may lead an aspirant towards the attainment of inner harmony and illumination. Human beings express a deep longing for meaning and purpose in life, which can be seen symbolically as a yearning to return to our true home. This book is presented in such a way that one cannot help but recognize the basic unity that underlies the unique forms and content of different spiritual teachings.

The thread of Truth is woven through the various fabrics of sacred traditions from both East and West, although each expression of Truth has been coloured by the perception of individual minds. In Coming Home we are led to appreciate the beauty and subtlety of human thought rather than to find conflicting dogma. The symbolism is richly diverse, as each teacher strives to relate an experience of the inexpressible in a manner that will both inspire and instruct aspirants. As Lex Hixon writes:


Though irradiated with wisdom and power beyond our ordinary imagination, God-realized beings are working still through the human structure, where certain physical, cultural, and temperamental limits are natural. ...While our limitations remain a source of confusion and suffering to ourselves and others, the human limitations of God-realized beings become channels of blessing to the particular culture and historical period in which they appear.


I soon became aware of the variety of my responses to each chapter. While the imagery of some teachings was absorbing, I found my mind wandering with others. Someone else might find those same passages both inspiring and informative, but I found myself doggedly reading and wondering why I was not in accord with the expression of those particular thoughts. This in itself served a valuable function, as I was not only able to recognize elements of my individual path that echo in other traditions, but also to see aspects of personal bias that coloured my reactions.

When we recognize the common spirit behind the "journey home," the burden of philosophical differences is lifted. A number of times I found echoing in my mind the simple formula for leading a spiritual life which was given to us by Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh. "Love, Serve, Give, Purify, Meditate, Realize," truly sums up "in a nutshell" the essential harmony between all paths that seek the revelation of inner Light. As one of Lex Hixon's teachers, a Sufi named Bawa Mahaiyaddeen, wrote in a beautiful letter:


The treasure which has come from Allah is the Soul or the Ray. That is the Light. When you discover and trace that Light, the rays which come from it will disappear into that Treasure. That Light is Man. It is not this body. This is the Treasure that we have to receive.


I have a particular affinity to references to the Light, as each one adds a touch of further brightness to the practice of the Divine Light Invocation that Swami Radha has brought to us. Light is an open symbol that appears in each tradition, and is one that appeals to teachers of both intellectual and devotional disciplines.

The unavoidable factor of cultural and personal perspective makes full agreement about the nature of earthly and heavenly existence impossible. Yet God-head, or Ultimate Reality, is essentially without structure or function, and there is fundamental agreement among mystics on this ultimate level.

As we proceed towards the "ultimate level" there are certain practices that are necessary to dethrone the ego and allow a receptive opening to the light of understanding and intuition. The purpose of all spiritual practice is to cultivate the potentials for spiritual growth that exist, in various stages of development, within each seeker. Calling for more depth in contemplation, greater awareness and observation, the discipline develops the aspirant so that illumination can dawn in the refined heart and mind. While warning that to be trapped in the structure or form of spiritual practice is to miss the point, each tradition underlines the necessity for disciplined practice. As Plotinus, the ancient Greek philosopher, remarked, "The One is present only to those who are prepared for It."

Also common to each tradition is the existence of paradox, which serves as a vehicle for a kind of questioning that can lead one beyond the polarities of the mind. We are assured that there is a state beyond mind, and that this may be attained in many ways. We could practice Ramana Maharshi's form of inquiry Who am 1? or Heidegger's "waiting which becomes abiding." We are told we are searching for something that is already here, in fact, is what we are in this present moment. As Zen tradition asks:

The Ox has really never gone astray. So why search for it? By seeking our True Nature, we are creating illusory duality between the one who seeks and the object that is sought. Why search for True Nature, which is already present as the consciousness by which one carries out the search? Our True Nature is never lost and therefore can never be found. We cannot discover a satisfactory answer to the puzzle Why search? And this not-finding-an-answer brings about the gradual cessation of search which is the flowering of Enlightenment.

Faith must be present to encourage the aspirant that "home" is attainable, and to nourish this faith and refine the power of emotions, we are offered devotional practices. At the same time as the intellect is being trained to be a more effective tool for inquiry, the heart may open to a refreshing expression of love and gratitude. As Swami Radha has mentioned many times, if we do not feel gratitude for what we have received, how can we be so presumptuous as to demand that we receive more? In an inspiring passage of a young woman's enlightenment through the traditional practice of Zen, we read that at the height of a moment of ecstasy Yaeko was filled with deep gratitude for her master and his guidance. Gratitude may be recognized as a state of illumination in itself.


Perpetual waiting as voidness or openness, which is Enlightenment, paradoxically generates intense feelings of gratitude. For worshippers of the personal God, this thankfulness flows toward the Divine. For those who meditate in the mood of impersonal wisdom, there is thankfulness simply for its own sake.

In a reading from a Chinese tradition of the I Ching, Lex Hixon received the following message:


"Letting oneself be drawn brings good fortune and remains blameless. If one is sincere it furthers one to bring even a small offering. "Whatever our conception of the Deities, or Ancestors, if we can let ourselves be drawn into relationship with these forces of Spirit–-the relationship of sincerity and purity of purpose–-then our spiritual family will appear in various unexpected forms to receive and embrace us.


As I reflect on the Joys and challenges of Ashram life, I know that spiritual family is a blessing that life presents on the arduous trail back "home." Seekers gather around a teacher whose inspiration and practical instruction show that the path has already been followed and that it leads towards illumination. Along that path, whatever it may be, we can at times boost the morale of fellow travellers, or in turn be supported in a moment of personal darkness.

Whether the symbolism comes from the Hasidic tradition, with a parable of freeing birds from their cages; in Ramakrishna's devotion to Divine Mother Kali; or the poetic language of the I Ching; we are reminded of the true purpose of our lives. The striving for peace of mind and joyful hearts is supported by each tradition, when we approach in a spirit of openness. "The mood of harmony seeks to confine no one. Each person is allowed to return or to come home along his or her own way, and these interrelated ways are now perceived as complimentary."

I found a welcome surprise in the interpretation of Paul's writings at the time of the birth of the Christian Church. The dogmatic belief that Jesus is the only Saviour has brought about many wars of religious persecution. Here we are carefully guided to recognize the element of spiritual acceptance that can be found in Paul's letters. Although the Light is clearly the essence of Jesus' teachings, it has been shadowed by certain activities of Christian institutions. The outcome of human weakness in established political and religious organizations is easy to recognize, whatever Our Cultural heritage might be.

While it is necessary to be aware of both the cultural and historical context from which spiritual teachings come, it is wise to take teachings in the spirit in which they have been intended. This is perhaps the finest aspect of Coming Home. Lex Hixon has caught the essence of the teachings that transcend human tendencies towards over-simplification, false judgment, exclusivity and rejection. Lifted above the separations of belief systems and their manifestations, we can glimpse the harmony and universal love that exists in the heart of all sacred traditions. However it may be expressed, is not there really only one "Teaching,” leading us towards the one "Truth"?

As Paul perceived in the radiance of Spirit no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, neither can we perceive any fundamental distinction between Jew and Christian, Buddhist and Hindu, theist and nontheist, believer and nonbeliever. There is only one inclusive spiritual family, the Mystical Body, the secret of Divine Life lived fully through the planetary life of conscious beings. Awakening to this secret, instantly we enter the New Aeon.

Any book that can foster such an understanding in a world torn by hatred and violence and in which religious wars are still being fought, is a welcome addition to the legacy of human literature. Coming Home is such a book.

- Reviewed by Danita Halldorson in Ascent, Journal of Yasodhara Ashram Society, Spring 1979

Before coming to live at Yasodhara Ashram in 1979, Danita HaIldorson studied fine arts and received a degree in studio sculpture from York University. She fills a number of jobs at the ashram including operating the phototypesetter and working in graphic design. She is a teacher of Hatha Yoga and Indian Prayer Dance.


Lex Hixon has written this concise tour de force of comparative religion in a lively yet erudite manner. Instead of detailing accounts of the creeds, cults, and codes of the major world religions, the author focuses his literary attention on the mystical element within each tradition (e.g., Tantra within Hinduism, Zen within Buddhism, Kabbalah and Hasidism within Judaism, and Suflsm within Islam). Moreover, he recognizes religion as the mystical experience of enlightenment in lieu of doctrine or dogma.

Hixon is cosmic in his approach to religion in the sense that he understands the import of the Vedic maxim, "Truth is One; Sages call It by many Names." He understands the meaning of the pathways to what Heidegger calls "The opening of openness," what Krishnamurti explicates as "Self-knowledge," what Ramakrishna invoked as "Mother Kali," what Ramana Maharshi expressed as the primal "I am," what the Zen masters call our "True Nature," what Plotinus termed "the One," what the Hasidic soul masters (tzaddikim) designate as the. "Messiah nature," what St. Paul revealed as the "Spirit," what the contemporary Sufi, Bawa Muhaiyadeen calls "open space," and what Lao-Tzu called the "Tao." Hixon realizes these to be experiental rather than conceptual: God is not a theory, but the experience of "Timeless awareness" itself.

Coming Home is filled with the illuminating stories of various sages, and includes Hixon's' own revelation of a peak experience of the "golden light" of the One which he had while meditating with the Rosicrucian master, Mother Serena. He went into what the Indian sages call “nirvikalpa samadhi" or objectless awareness, He reports, "All was clear. This brightness was so total that there was no room for an I; yet even in the absence of a particular I, awareness was fully present."


Like Watts and Ram Das, Hixon does a sensitive job of translating Eastern ideas into Western thought. His contemplative style throws light on a topic of current spiritual interest. He says, "This is the Tantric Way: all phenomena are to be recognized as the dream play of Consciousness. Knowing that all is a dream gives one the freedom to move through this single, flowing life as a fish swims gracefully through water. This is the Great Bliss expressed by Tantra through the metaphor of sexual union."

One of the highlights of this spiritual guidebook is the series of drawings by Gregan of Zen Ox-herding's "Ten Seasons of Enlightenment." His brush strokes are crisp, simple, and reflective of the contemplative captions. The final phase, "Entering the Marketplace with Helping Hands," represents a kind of modern Bodhisattva vow. Hixon says, "The cheerful one who fully manifests Enlightenment follows no path. He carries a wine gourd, symbol of the Tantric ecstasy which transforms the wine of the delusive human world from poison into nectar."

Coming Home lacks an index, which would help considerably in referencing people, ideas, and experiences. However, it does have the added feature of a concluding chapter on "Designing an Experiment in Contemplation," which fuses the breath-watching meditation of Theravada Buddhism with the "Turiya" or Ultimate Consciousness of Advaita Vedanta (Non-dual Wisdom). Hixon concludes with a creative synthesis of the Eastern wisdom into what he calls the "Four basic contemplative moods: energy, love, peace, and insight."



Reviewed by Mukunda Makowsky in Yoga Journal.

Mukunda Makowsky, is a disciple of Sant Keetwadas and a published social theorist. He is currently a Ph.D candidate in East-West Psychology at
the California Institute of Asian Studies and a contributing Editor of the Yoga Journal

What is Enlightenment, the ultimate goal of all sacred traditions? How does it affect the lives of those who experience it? Is there a common ground to how various traditions approach it? What does it mean for us today?
“Coming Home is an unusually clear and readable exploration of these questions. Its experimental bent and spirit of universality have brought it wide recognition as a classic. Lex Hixon warmly guides the reader through an intriguing array of traditional teachings to the essential truth of all the world’s great religions, which is simply to come home. Invoking the essence and texture of different sacred paths, he presents Enlightenment as the full flowering of human nature, accessible to everyone."

“Outstanding as an introduction to the world’s great mystical traditions, I have used Coming Home in my philosophy of religion course for over fifteen years. The book’s purpose is to point to similar patterns of thought and experience across those traditions, but it never does so my abstracting them out. Instead it thoroughly embeds them in the lives and voices of individual mystics. It is this that makes it accessible as well as personally and intellectually inspiring to students.”

--Nancy Baker, Professor of Philosophy, Sarah Lawrence College