The Photograph you see of Bapak (Pak Subuh) was taken by Joe, professional Photographer and owner of Court Studio. A very large portrait of this photo hangs at the Subud house in Colombo and we believe it was taken in 1967. An autographed copy ended up with me which may be the only photo that Bapak autographed, here is the story of the man who took it.
In the early years, everyone knew JOPPA as he was fondly called by his brothers and sisters in Subud. An unusually tall and big man for a Sri Lankan. He was a calm and quiet person who kept his emotions well under control. Here never let the left hand know what the right hand was doing. He was a man of few words, yet he had a way of letting his presence be known.
A short time after I was opened I landed a super job working at the Airport. In less than one year I was transferred to an airport in the boonies, at the very north of the country. This spelled total disaster as far as the Latihan and I nearly quit the job. Finally I worked out a schedule - take the express mail train to Colombo on Saturday afternoon, and catch the night mail train on Sunday night arriving Monday morning for work. It was workable for the young and the foolish or... I spent nearly twenty hours on the trains for one latihan.
Everyone was aware of my plight and had all kinds of advice. After a few weeks JP (JOPPA) observed that I was there every Sunday and asked me when I got to town on Saturday. I said around 8 pm, "Well," he said, "if you get to the Subud House by nine I will be there and maybe another helper, this is if want another latihan." There is not much difference between the foolish and the brave when it comes to the latihan! This is when I met the real Joe. There was a group of us who liked to test most of the time, whenever possible we invited Joe as we observed he was good at it. In the nineteen sixties If I went downtown I had made it a habit to drop in at Court Studios and shoot the breeze with JOPPA. If he had no clients I was very welcome. Most of the time we just sat there and felt the latihan quietly, where we had a glimpse of the ocean and plenty of tea.
On one of those occasions he told me about his early life. He had entered the seminary to become a priest, but changed his mind at the very last moment, when he left the seminary before ordination to start another life. He believed that there was some form of guidance even at that time. I have no doubt about this anymore. Those who are destined to come to Subud will find a way. He said his time at the seminary was not wasted and told me this story about an incident that makes me smile to this day. As can often be expected, seminary novices - after the initial period - started to complain to the Brother who supervised them. Each person found the that their life was unbearable and unfair about the way the work was assigned to them. The elder Brother who was wise in the matters of this world and the next, and held a meeting, and asked everyone to write down their problems briefly on a piece of paper. Then he asked each person to pick another persons problem and keep it. They were given one choice, if they did not like it - they could hang on to their own. Everyone decided to keep to their own. It is so often true of this life, we complain about our own lives assuming the other person is better off.
In 1967, Bapak came to Sri Lanka after a long spell. During this visit, Ibu Sumari (Bapak's wife) kept asking for the "tall, black/dark person". We never thought of JP as dark because of his character. Finally we zeroed in on JOPPA, and found that he was the person she was referring to. Ibu Sumari made Joe the official grocery shopper for Bapak. Only then did we find out that JOPPA did most of the grocery shopping for his own family. Why I mention this is that Joe shared with me some remarkable happenings. He had bought the most expensive bananas for Bapak, and normally they are eaten when they have a few dark spots showing that the banana is really ripe. Ibu, after checking the bananas, had asked JP not to buy bananas with spots as Bapak never ate them. Later we found out that any picked fruit goes through the process of dying, during which its Essence leaves it. This does not mean it is not good for you or nutritious - it still provides essential nutrients - but something is missing. This also applies to animal food sources. So it is better to consume it before this loss of essence happens - when it is really fresh. Another time Joe was looking for some fish for Bapak, the variety he was looking for is called "Sear" - which is a Sri Lankan favorite. While he was buying the fish, he looked at a pile of small fish that was on a table in the fish market. Joppa said he was was moved to buy some of these fish, so he went ahead and bought them. This fish became one of Bapak's favorites.
In 1971, I was chosen by the process of testing to be the delegate for the Subud World Congress in Cilandak, Indonesia. During this time period there was political turmoil in Sri Lanka, traveling abroad was severely restricted, very little foreign exchange was available for travelers, you had to apply for exit permits, etc. I went through the process of applying and was asked to collect my exit permit two days before I left for Jakarta. When I went to collect the permit I ran into a strange situation. They could not find my application, and it was suggested that I make a new application. Time and circumstances were working against me, not to mention my disappointment. Joppa's Court Studios was not too far away, so I rode my bike to his place. I was ready to give up, Joppa said, "Do not give up! We tested and received you were the best choice!" He called Rusli, who arrived shortly afterwards, and we decided that I should apply again. I applied again and this time it worked, I got to Jakarta one day later than I had planned, but before the opening ceremony. What I did not know at that time was that this journey had far reaching effects on my life. I could venture to say it changed my destiny. It paved the way for a major change in my life, where I moved to America.
Joppa and family invited my wife and I for dinner just before we left for California, and just before we left his home he handed me a sealed envelope - which contained the autographed photo of Bapak which you see above. It was a mystery as to why he gave it to me at that time, as it is perhaps the only photo that Bapak autographed.
I always visited Joppa at Court Studios on my regular visits to Sri Lanka to see my parents. He was much interested to hear about my boys, and how they adapted to life in America.
In the eighties JOPPA passed away, and I received the news from Rusli, along with this bit of information which made me happy. It seems that during the very first latihan at the Subud house after Joppa's funeral, many a Subud member present that day saw Joe/Joppa seated on his favorite garden chair. It was a fitting farewell from a Subud brother loved by all.
