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General Information: Overview: House of One People (HOOP)

Lex Hixon and Bernie Glassman
Roshis Lex Hixon and Bernie Glassman

The concept of a House of One People was set down in writing by Bernie Glassman for Tikkun Magazine and appeared in their January 1998 issue. In it he described the world of multifaith encounters, a virtual House of One People where differences manifest unity, "where all of us, while upholding our separate paths, will be one people." He began that article with a brief account of Lex Hixon's life and his many-paths-in-one, for he and Lex had often discussed a House of One People in the ten years before Lex's passing. In fact, in the article he referred to Lex as a one-man House of One People.

In 1998 there was still no actual, physical House of One People. At various times different facilities were considered for that purpose: the chapel adjacent to the offices of the Greyston Foundation, one of a large complex of buildings that had once housed the Hudson Institute in Croton, and a building in South Salem. None of these came about.

Meantime, a global force of spiritually-based social activists was developed. It began to support activists who were linked and integrated on so many levels that they enjoyed the support of peers from halfway around the world and their local work reflected the complexities of a global perspective. The Zen Peacemakers became a community that honored oneness and diversity. When the ZP moved to the Montague Farm in Western Massachusetts in the summer of 2002, the possibility once again arose of building a House of One People based on Bernie's and Lex's old vision. But that vision had broadened. For now it's clear that the Zen Peacemaker's House of One People (or HOOP for short) would not only be a facility for events and programs, but also the center for trainings, retreats, and workshops in spiritually-based peacemaking around the world.

Graphic depiction of
							the House of One People
The House of One People began life as a century-old barn.

The House of One People was born out of a rustic old barn. Built at the turn of the 19th century in the post and beam tradition of a Yankee dairy farm, the staid old barn provided the aesthetic and spiritual base for the genesis of a contemporary architectural delight. The weather-beaten boards, the wide plank floors and the beautiful beams and pillars of the old barn survived the metamorphosis to grace the newly unfolding House of One People with an elemental simplicity - stunning and remarkable.


177 Ripley Road | Montague, MA 01351 | Phone: (413) 367-2080 | 2007 Zen Peacemakers