URS June 27, 2018
We just received the sad news that our beloved and longtime Sufi friend
Elaine Resnick passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in her sleep early
Wednesday morning, June 27th. Elaine lived in New York City with her
husband Richard Resnick (who survives her) and was a longtime mureed,
Representative, and a generous and loving friend. She was someone you could
call any time of the night, who consoled many through the challenges of
life, who always provided a gracious loving seedbed of warmth, an astute
heart, emotional intelligence, practical know how and humor. She served on
the Ethics Committee in the Inayati Order for over thirty years. We are in
deep gratitude to her loving soul and being. We will miss her. May she
journey with joy, ease and light in her union with dear Pir Vilayat and
Murshid.
–Kainat Felicia and Muinuddin
For those who want to learn more about Elaine see her Golden Heart Award she received for her service in the Inayati Order.
2011 Golden Heart Award for Elaine Resnick
NYC, CT, LI, N NJ Region
Elaine Resnick attended her first Sufi camp at the Labor Day Retreat at the Abode in 1977 not knowing anything about Sufism and received initiation into the Sufi Order Intl after an event Pir Vilayat gave at Columbia University in NYC in 1978. She and her husband Richard are long time representatives in the Sufi Order Intl and have been part of the Sufi community in NYC for many years, graciously offering their home for events and themselves offering Sufi classes. Elaine, mother to four children in the household, also remembers Pir Zia as a teenager visiting their home in NYC and playing computer games with her son Damian. Elaine says ” My dearest friends in all the world are those I have met through the Sufi Order”.
Elaine is often found generously preparing a table of refreshments and food, and welcoming guests at events. She recounts her joy in serving champagne at the Joshua tree Sufi Camp in CA , and how much she prefers this kind of service to being in the spotlight.
Elaine and Richard served as the ongoing hosts of Pir Vilayat when he came to New York, from the 1970’s until 2002, his last visit in the States. Elaine remembers once when Pir Vilayat drove his camper van to NYC, and, while staying with them, ran wires from their building to his van to get electricity. Pir Vilayat would go back and forth on the city street in his robes. She said he was ” always a delight to host”.
A psychotherapist and clinical social worker, Elaine has greatly contributed these skills to the Sufi Order Intl. She has contributed articles on transference and psychology for the leader’s manual, gave workshops with Atum O’Kane and Taj Inayat on transference and taught a course with Suria Less on the application of Sufi principles to child development. In all her work Elaine strikes the note that spirituality is a natural outgrowth of becoming a whole person,. She accents the psychological aspects of the person, specializing in child development and its stages. She has graciously served on the Ethic Committee of the Sufi Order Intl for over thirty years handling issues that have arisen with great care and fairness.
Elaine is a model of heartfelt and selfless service.