Gallery and Stories 3

Sheikh Ishaq Daniel Jud

Gallery and Stories 3

Beloveds:

I have very fond memories of Sheikh Ishaq Jud. The very first NWSC camp That Wajood took me to was in 1980 at Breitenbush. I had no idea what to expect. Ishaq was looking after me each night. He was my bunkmate and he took very good care of me. We used to talk about old rock and roll music every night and we laughed a lot. At the end of camp when people were leaving, he asked me what I thought of camp. I wasn't used to having love laid on me, and all I could do was cry. He said, "I think he likes it."

Three birthdays ago, I sang a song for his birthday, and he came up and gave me a hug.

I'm grateful to Ishaq for working behind the scenes to make sure that I got a scholarship and transportation to camp every year for 27 years. He knew what it meant to me, and he and others made sure it happened.

I remember the first time I heard him tuning the shruti box. I couldn't see to know what it was, and I said to Ishaq, "What's that, a diesel locomotive? He cracked up.

I remember fondly having Darshon with him. He was a big teddy bear, very sincere, very dedicated. He just radiated love all over to the planet, and straight into me.

With love from Shakur Toby Kimmey

Ishaq's famouos guitar case, painted by Mariam

Please accept my condolences on the loss of Ishaq--and my salute to his life
well lived.

The very first Sufi retreat I ever attended was on the Oregon coast in
perhaps 1993 or 1994, and Ishaq was its leader. Its name was something like
'Confluence of the Birds.'

My recollections of the event are not specific; it was all very new and
strange to me. But I do remember the way I felt when I began my drive home
after the retreat--a very deep stillness and sense of peace. All the world
seemed in harmony.

And so I shall always associate Ishaq with the inner peace that he
experienced and engendered. His life was a blessing to those fortunate
enough to enter his orbit.

Mansur Richard Conviser
President, Peaceworks--Dances of Universal Peace North America

Ishaq and sisters Carol & Ginger, with their Uncle Gene in Texas

Dear ones,

All I can say is that I loved Ishaq like a brother. My heart aches
with knowing I won't get to sing, laugh, and pray with him again
during this life. I look forward to our next encounter.

Love,
Jelehla

Ishaq and Anna, Oregon Country Fair

Ishaq at Hell's Canyon overlook, June 2006

I'm very sad to hear of the passing of Ishaq. I was at the zen monastery for the 24-Hour Chant for Peace when I found out.

Here is a short story I would like to share about Ishaq. We were at an after-Sema gathering in Portland, and the next zikr at your house was going to fall on Christmas. Ishaq said that there would be something to honor the day, at which point I started to bow and chant "Rudolph...the red...nosed...reindeer...", and Ishaq joined right in
with me. Yes, he was the teacher for me.

You and he and all of his mureeds are in my prayers.

Peace and blessings,

Munir

Ishaq and Anna at Oregon Country Fair 2006, photo by Nur Jamila Elliott

Since Anna has asked us to share memories of our beloved Ishaq, I will share mine. I met Ishaq more than 11 years ago on Christmas Day at a small gathering in Gulistan's home in Oregon. He had arrived very recently from California and was nursing his foot so he stayed mainly lying on the couch. Everyone was very excited that "a hat" had arrived in Eugene. I found him to be very relaxed and easy going, quick to make a joke and with a tremendous capacity for expansive acceptance and understanding. The zikrs that he led in Eugene were rich, profound and nourishing. The following summer was my first sufi camp. I had many opportunities to spend time with Ishaq and pelt him with questions on sufism. He never tired of my questions and we became good friends. When I married the following summer I knew he had to lead Dances for our wedding. At first I wondered what some of our older relatives would think of this long haired "hippie", but I needn't have worried. Anyone who took the time to talk with Ishaq discovered a warm, loving, generous, intelligent man. I loved watching friends and relatives who had never experienced DUP dancing with abandon as Ishaq led us, and have the photos to prove it! We were having a blistering heat wave on our wedding day, yet Ishaq managed to raise our melting energy and the love and joy was evident on everyone's face. Some of my favorite memories of Ishaq are when he would tell sufi stories. I could listen to him for hours enjoying his delivery and perspective. I am still enveloped in grief for our loss, while I hear him laughing at me and asking, "What are you crying about, where do you think I would go?" I too see him hanging with Moineddin & Murshid Sam and feel his blessed presence with me. Ya Salaam, Ishaq. I am ever grateful for knowing you and blessed to have had the chance to spend time with you.

Rabia Neeno

Hi Friends,

It's taken awhile to catch up on my email as I've been away a lot lately....

I didn't have much personal contact with Ishaq in the last ten or twelve years since moving to Europe; however, we had a wonderful reconnection two summers ago when I was at the NW Sufi Camp. It was great to see him so happy and at ease!

He has always been a wonderful teacher and a leader of real zikr in the way he could work with energy and respond to those present in the moment, rather than using them as a backing chorus. I remember most distinctly experiencing him leading his Harmonic Kalama at the Mentorgarten for the
first time sometime in the mid-late 1970s. It was the first time I had experienced anything like it--so simple, so beautiful, and that wild backbeat! It remains one of my favorite dance-zikrs, the blessing accessible to everyone, immediately. Later it was popularized worldwide as part of
Amida Harvey's "blue moon" zikr cycle.

Being a few years my senior as a dance leader, Ishaq gave me some wonderful advice early on. I don't remember his exact words, but it was something like, 'just relax here a bit, Saadi, everything doesn't have to be as

serious as our teachers make it out to be." I suppose that was the "abandon tension" part of his gift. In this, he was very much like Shamcher, whom Vakil quoted a few days ago. He exemplified Inayat Khan's saying, "to be spiritual is simply to be natural."

My condolences to Anna and the rest of the Eugene community. While it's true that the ruh or spirit of a teacher and friend lives on, this doesn't mean that their actual physical presence, touch and laughter is any less real.

There is no word in any of the wasifas for "eternal." What we translate as "Qayoom," really means "what stands up again" or "what resurrects itself." Ishaq's presence resurrects itself in those whom he touched and for whom he
served as a gateway to the Real.

Love, Saadi

Hello Beloveds,

I haven't been able to write until now; this felt too fast, too close, and Ishaq's passing has left a large hole in our Sangitha circle here in Eugene. Interesting, we've been reading Akkibayyat outloud in our monthly meeting.

I first met Ishaq when he returned to Eugene to live. The first time I delivered a meal to him--he was laid up with his foot--I was treated to a Sufi story, the first of many, and left with a smile on my face. How he remembered them all, I have no idea! I also loved his stack of dog-earred esoteric papers--the old variety, copies of copies of typewritten copies, worn to a nub through his steady rereading. His one-pointed dedication to the Message is a teaching for us all.

I have deep gratefulness and appreciation to Anna, who surrounded Ishaq with steady and profound love. I know she extended his life.

I will miss his quiet humor, his dedication to the path, the generous way that he shared leadership in Eugene.

I know he has flown to the heart of the Beloved, who encircles him now.

Love,

Amrita

The Shadow of loss
Perfumed by the master's soul
Showers us with sacred smiles
And remembrance and song.

I have a memory of NWSC, washing pots for hours and trying to get to Ishaq's afternoon zikr class on time. But I was definitely going to be late, but decided to finish absolutely everything( my fellow pot washers had already given up), and feeling completely drained and disliking entering late, I braced myself, but it seemed that class hadn't started yet. So I had to find a chair (this seemed terribly difficult at the time) When I heard Ishaq say "there's a chair here, Jamila" - he indicated the chair to his left, and I floated easily to it and settled for what was, of course, an exceptional class. His compassion and knowing just the right thing; such a large gentleness, always overwhelmed me.

Love

Zakira Cooke (formerly Jamila)
Edmonton

Ishaq and Akbar during a restful afternoon, probably during football!