3udas—çA Befrayc or 3ust rDoing 2tis 3ob? Diiit-i 51iOfl), ,LOS LA1I9CICS ather Frank Desidcrio, a practicing Roman Catholic priest, produced a film about Judas. He said hc had hoped it would reveal the man’s humanity. It was ShOt ifl 2001 and has been gathering dust Ofl the ABC networks shelves ever since. They denied they had withheld the film for fear ofoffending the religious right, but after \Iel Gibson stirred up a storm with his The Pacsion ofthe Christ, the’ felt they were safe in scheduling it. I was very interested to see the slant they had put on his life, because I had heard that Baba had told us Judas loved Jesus very much and was very reluctantly doing as His l\’laster had asked him to do when he betrayed Him to the soldiers in the garden of Gethsemane. Unfirtunately, I could not remember how I came about this information, thinking that it was probably something I heard Eruch tell us in Mandali Hall. However, since we cannot publish anything in the Love Street LampPost without attribu non I enlisted the aid ofTom Hickey to do a search for me. He came up with quite a few mentions ofJudas in the 20-volume set of Lord Meher, now available on line. (www.lordmeher.org) Following is what we found: From LordMeherVolume 11, page 3817 Filis [Frederick] and Adele [Wolkin] had been allowed to spend the week at the Center [Myrtle Beach] with Baba and “the girls,” the term of endearment for the women Mandali. They would be with Baba at the Guest House in the evenings, before He left at 6 pm. On the evening of May 14th, Baba asked them to tell Him a story. Adele, feeling very nervous, stumbled her way through a story of Saint Peter. At one point, Baba bent His head and stated, “Peter loved me the most—but even he denied me.” Delia [De Leon] asked, “Was that a conscious act or did he do it unconsciously?” “None of the apostles loved Jesus as Pe ter did,” Baba stated, “It had to be. It was God’s will. He was conscious. Afterwards he realized me.” Delia said, “I always understood that was unconscious when he betrayed udas J Christ.” Baba explained to her, “The greatest service was Judas’ betrayal. When he kissed
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Christ on the cheek, he did nothing. God did all. He behaved under a veil. He, of all the disciples, had the most difficult task to do for the Master.” Baba then indicated that J udas, too, had been given Realization. Volume 3, page 966 next The day at Meherabad, while ex why plaining the Avatar or Christ always has a person likejudas among his disciples, Baba drew a circle on the ground with his finger, and keeping his finger on the circum ference ofthe circle, he disclosed: Lord Ram had his Ravana,Jesus hisJudas. One of the twelve men in the circle is always like that. Suppose my finger was a compass. I, as the Master, am the point in the middle and the outside ring is my circle. Now observe what happens when the circle is complete and the compass is stationary. The pencil is still on one point ofthe circle. The oe who is under the point shouts! That is Judas. Eleven members of the circle are GodRealized during my lifetime—the twelfth after I die. He, my Judas, being the dark side of me, realizes me after I have physi cally departed. Volume6,page2l83 Baba explained about Jesus Christ and his apostles Peter and Judas: Now, who is Christ? The individual soul. Who is Jesus? The Avatar (Prophet) ofNazareth. What is Christ? The Son ofGod state. Judas helped Jesus Christ in his Universal work. If Christ had not undergone the crucifixion, he could not have taken the burden of the universe upon himself Jesus brought about his own crucifixion. Peter loved Jesus the most. Jesus loved him most, although the love ofJesus for all was the same. Can you explain this? Loving all the same and yet some more than others? It is like the different parts ofthe body: they all belong to you, but you love some parts more than others. The eyes are more dear than your fingers. Is this clear? J esus loved Peter most in this respect. Pe ter was his eyes. When Jesus said to Peter, “You will betray me,” Peter knew he would betray his Master, the one whom he loved most, and yet he bore it bravely. It was the most difficult thing to do: to know that he would betray and yet not to become weak.Jesus made Peter know that he would betray him for his work.
J udas was also made to betray. Peter betrayed wiffingly. It is most difficult when you love the one you betray. For example, suppose you [pointing to one] love me most. You are Peter. You [pointing to another] are Judas. I want you both to kill me. Now you, Peter, are made to kill me. You would not willingly do so. You are asked by me to kill me, and you love me more than your life. But you will lovingly kill me for my work. Even Arjuna could not be like Peter. Krishna had to show him his universal body before he would kill his brothers and relatives in battle. You,Judas, [pointing to that one] love me very much. I turn the key and you go against me for my work. You do not go against me ofyour own accord. I make you go against me in order to tell people all about me. You do it willingly, knowing that people hearing you would beat me and crucify me. All this means love, faith and sacrifice. If you do what I ask willingly, you really love me. Ifyou are made to do it, you love me a little less. Baba concluded, “God’s grace makes you love me. My grace makes you one with me.” Volume 13, page 4612 With every advent of the Avatar on earth, the twelve men of the inner circle and its appendage of two women gather round the personality of the Avatar as the self-same fourteen types of individualities, who in the shape ofdifferent personalities, always occupy their respective offices when the Avatar manifests on earth. And, during and after the life span of the Avatar, they individually and collectively ftmction in the same way as their predecessors, who had held and functioned in the same offices of the inner circle during the past advents of the Avatar. Therefore, it would not be wrong to say that with Christ’s coming again, come Peter [Baba has told us that Eruch was His ‘Peter’],Judas, and all his apostles. But, this can never mean that the very same Peter, or the self-same Judas, reincarnates again and again. These can never incarnate, because all ofthe twelve individual personalities of the Avatar’s inner circle attain God-Realization in every Avataric period, either during or soon after the life span of the Avatar. Once God-Realization is attained, rein-