Question: With the deal that Jesus made with the serpent he knew what was coming. Doesn’t that make Judas, the disciple that loves Jesus the most? He must have known that in fulfilling his role, his Life too would be over with. If it is like this, Judas sacrificed his Life for Jesus .
Acharya Prashant: We all Love God and we all Love Jesus as well.
The doubt, the question, is not on the Love. The ego loves the Truth madly, there is no doubt about it. People do not differ in whether or not they Love the Truth. Everybody loves the Truth.
People differ in whether or not they directly Love the Truth.
Appreciate the difference.
In the epic story of Ramayana , if you go to a Lakshman or Hanuman or Vibhishan or Sita , they will say that they Love Ram, so they are with Ram . And if you go to Ravan, he’ll say he loves Ram and therefore he is fighting Ram . He will say that his way of gaining liberation through Ram is to get killed by Ram .
Now, this is quite strange. This is strange and tragic because this indirect way leads to a lot of suffering for mankind. We all Love the Truth but there are two types of lovers. There is one kind that is simple and straightforward, innocent and says, “because I Love you, I am rushing towards you.” And then there is another kind of lover. Crooked, complex and egoistic. He says, “because I love you, hence, I am going away from you, so that you may chase me”, and that will be the fun of Love. The second kind of lover is an agent of suffering.
Who can hate *Jesus?* There are those who Love Jesus and show Love. And then there are those who Love Jesus and show hatred.
The expression is very very important. The expression must be simple, straight, innocent.
The simple mind says, “I’ll go the best and learn from him and be in his company and go to him because he’s the best.” The complex mind says, “I’ll go to the best and try to kill him because he’s the best.” Both of them surely believes, *the best to be the best.*
But the simple mind bows to the best, and the complex mind slaughters the best, or attempt to slaughter. That does not mean that any of them is oblivious of the supremacy of the best.
Kabir has put it so very lucidly.
घट घट साईंयां, सुनी सेज न कोय।
Obviously, the Truth is in each mortal, in each heart, in each person. There is nobody who is bereft of Truth.
बलिहारी घट तासु की, जा घट परघट होय।।
But of adulation is worthy only the one in whom the Truth finds expression. Or the one who allows the Truth to express itself. Saying that the Truth resides in the heart of everybody is no big thing. Yes, of course, Truth is there in each Heart . It’s a tautology. The question is, are you living by the Heart? The question is, are you allowing the Truth to express itself? Or do you rather prefer yourself to be expressed?
Surely, Judas loves Jesus. I leave it to you to decide whether you want to Love Jesus like Mary, like Peter or like Judas! There are all kind of people around him. They all Love Jesus . But see how the expression varies. There is Mary the mother, there is Peter the devoted one, there is Thomas the doubting one, and then there is Judas, and then there are the priests who sentenced him, and then there is the crowd that watches his crucifixion. They all Love Jesus . I leave it to you to decide how you want to Love Jesus. It is a most important question you had ever be asked.
Meditate on this.