Bhau Kalchuri is an Indian author, poet, trust administrator, and one of Meher Baba's mandali (close disciples). Bhau Kalchuri is also the principle biographer of Meher Baba's life and was Meher Baba's night watchman.
When asked -- what really happened that Easter. Bhau wrote the following message, which I reprint here in its entirey.
Some questions I cannot answer, because such questions cannot be answered by anyone except God.
Jesus wanted the world to know that He had been crucified, but he never wanted people to know that He had survived the crucifixion. It was the main sign of His Universal Work. He kept this secret, and nobody came to know about it.
Meher Baba (1927)
When I went to England in 1985, somebody told me that a recent book on Christ said that it had been found that He had come to India after the Resurrection. I cannot say anything more about this, because I am quite ignorant.
I do know this much: Baba told us this was the truth. In 1929, Baba went to Kashmir. He remained in seclusion in Harvan, six miles from Srinigar, the village where Jesus had dropped His body. When Baba came out of seclusion, He disclosed that when He had been Jesus, He had been buried there.
There is no reason to feel amazed that Peter did not know that Jesus had survived. Nobody knew. The Lord did not tell anyone. After the crucifixion, none of the Mandali of Jesus could think of anything. They were all hiding here and there. The time was quite unimaginable. No one thought about Peter, Thomas, Bartholomew or anyone else.
Those who were with Jesus -- Peter, John and others -- were so full of grief that they did not think of anyone except the Lord, not even themselves. Those who were with Jesus when He was crucified and placed in the tomb may have felt as if their own life had departed from them, though their mind and body lingered in order for them to experience the pain [of separation]. Peter did not know about the resurrection; even the mother of Jesus did not know.
Peter and Jesus had been separated such that they never again met. Then they were crucified. I feel that Peter was also crucified for the cause of Lord Jesus, as he was a medium for His Universal Work. Whatever the Lord wanted Peter to do, Peter did.
The Ancient One's ways are innumerable, and He uses those that are suitable at the time. He came out of the burial pit after three days, and perhaps His two Mandali members, Thomas and Bartholomew were there. Thomas did not believe that He was the same Jesus Who had been crucified, but Lord Jesus showed him the wounds in His side inflicted during the crucifixion.
Everyone knows that Lord Jesus performed many miracles. He gave life to the dead. He gave sight to the blind. Could He not save Himself? Why did He allow this crucifixion?
That is the glory of the Lord. The One Who was All Power, All Knowledge and All Bliss was crucified. What a glory! Can anyone understand this?
He was crucified for the world. But on the day of the resurrection, He came out of the pit.
Then He walked to India with His two Mandali members, Thomas (now called "Doubting Thomas") and Bartholomew. It was He Who made those two Mandali members accompany Him. They walked to Burma and from there to India. Jesus visited all the places of pilgrimage in India, walking and walking. Really speaking, this was His seclusion work for the universe.
Age after age, the Avatar comes down upon the earth. He spends time in seclusion for His Universal Work. Beloved Baba also did this. Generally, Mandali members would be with Him, but once, it so happened that when Baba was in seclusion, He said, "This is My seclusion-in-seclusion."
No Mandali members except Eruch and me were allowed to see Him. I would keep night watch and do correspondence. Sometimes, He wanted the letters He had received read out. Eruch would read those in English, and I would read those in Hindi. Baba would not dictate any replies. He would just listen.
He was deeply engrossed in His seclusion work. This seclusion-in-seclusion made other Mandali members restless. He would not come to Mandali Hall; He would remain in His own room, not seeing anyone. That last phase of seclusion, which started in 1967, was really most exhausting."
In 1969, when Baba was getting spasm after spasm, He said, "When I was Jesus, I was only crucified for one day. But no one knows how now I am crucified every day."
Those two years of His seclusion were unimaginably hard because He remained so engrossed with the world. Not only did He take upon Himself the burden of the world, but He also created a situation for the world to free itself from that burden, so that the world might get awakened towards God.
During one night's watch, I was thinking, "Baba does not see anyone. His lovers write letters, but sometimes He does not have them read out. His lovers expect a few loving words from Him, but He neither listens nor responds to their letters. How must they be feeling?"
"What are you thinking?" Baba asked me.
As usual, I replied, "Nothing, Baba."
"Nothing? You are thinking, and still you say nothing? You think that I don't meet My lovers, that when they write letters to Me, I don't listen or respond to them?
"You have no idea what will happen to those who have seen Me physically, as well as those who have not. Do you have any idea what I am doing for them?"
He pounded His legs, the sign for His seclusion work. "This I am giving to them. Afterwards, you will see what will happen to them, who have seen Me physically as well as those who have not. You have no idea what I am doing for them. If they come to Me, what will they see?
"This physical body. What is there?
"I am giving them the Real thing."
And again He made the sign for His seclusion work.
Another night, again after I had received many letters, I was thinking, "How to reply?"
Once more, Baba asked, "What are you thinking?"
Again, I said, "Nothing."
"You have no idea what I am passing through because of My seclusion work," Baba said. "I am stretching and stretching My bow. When I release My arrow, that arrow will touch every heart in the world. You will see what happens afterwards."
During His seclusion work, He continued to stretch and stretch that bow. Ultimately, on 31st January 1969, He dropped His body and released His arrow.
This is the reason more and more people are coming to Him. A day will come when the whole world will come. That will be His Universal Manifestation.
I cannot say anything more. But this much I know: When Beloved Baba dropped His physical body, there was no thought in us except that of Him. I cannot furnish you with an explanation about this time, because I cannot express it or put it into words. It was so painful. It seemed as if this world were receding away from me, and I had nowhere to stand.
Before He dropped His body, Baba had arranged a darshan program for April 1969. During this program, despite His physical absence, we were wonderstruck to see many new faces. How did this happen?
Since then, we always see new faces coming to His Samadhi at Meherabad.
What Lord Jesus was doing after He was crucified, no one has any idea. He lived in India, many, many years, secluded from those who knew Him. He was wandering and wandering with His two disciples to different places. He went to Rameshwaram, where Rama had killed Ravana, and Dwarka, too, the kingdom where Krishna ruled.
He would walk and walk, never staying in one place. Ultimately, He went to Kashmir, and after completing His Universal Work, He dropped His physical body at Harvan. Then, after a hundred years, His Universal Manifestation took place.
Generally, His Universal Manifestation takes place one hundred years after He drops His body. But for Lord Jesus it took more than one hundred years from the time He was crucified. Why?
Because He did not die on the cross. Instead, He started His seclusion work for the universe. Actually, when He was crucified, He remained unknown to the world except for His Mandali members. How is it that the West and some parts of the East accepted Him?
How He suffered for humanity! How He would walk all the distances in India! No one understands even an iota of His suffering for the universe. It is unimaginable.
The Lord always comes down to give a Universal Push, not only to humanity, but also to all kingdoms of evolution and involution. He is love. And He is compassion. How He suffers for Creation. How He has bound Himself to it for all time, though in His own form, He remains eternally free.
He is our only Compassionate Father. No one has any idea why He is called this.
Because He does not find anyone, anywhere, other than Himself. He is active, infinite consciousness. And He's the One Who remains active, even after dropping His physical body.
But there is a difference. Until His Universal Manifestation, He helps everyone, whether a saint or a sinner. At the time of His Universal Manifestation, the devil bows down to Him and remains bowed down. After His Universal Manifestation, the Lord will help those who remember and follow Him. He will not pay attention to those who do not call Him, nor those who forget Him or do not care for Him. Once again, the devil will start raising his head. Ignorance will gradually grow and grow and grow.
When ignorance crosses the limit, He has to come back again. Sometimes, He is called the Son of God, sometimes the Messenger of God, sometimes the Avatar or the Christ. But He's one and the same, the Ancient One.
Nobody thinks, "Who did all His work?"
The Lord Himself did it, and He remains always in the form of the Holy Spirit. He is very active, infinitely active.
You find people performing prayers to the Holy Spirit in their churches. Who is that Holy Spirit?
It is the Lord Himself, Who remains active.
And what is Easter?
Easter is the time to remember Lord Jesus wholeheartedly, to become attached to Him and try to detach yourself from the devil. The devil is in everyone, and it is because of the devil, that the world forgets the Lord.
But what a Compassionate Father He is!
Whether someone is a saint or whether they are a mischief monger or thief, He is for them. He cannot neglect them. They are all His children, because He IS them. [No one can be with Him.] He is thousands of times closer than our very breath. He is our life. There are none except Him, and besides Him, whatever appears as existing is nothing but Illusion, which does not exist. If at all it exists, it exists in non-existence.
As we celebrate this Easter, let us resolve to dedicate our lives to Him and live for Him and die for Him in His love. We should become desireless. We should create longing to be with Him, so that nothing remains for us except Him, the Beloved Avatar, the Compassionate Father, the real Oceanized Ocean, Who looks after us all the time. Let us therefore not hesitate to make this resolution and dedicate our life in order to surrender to Him for all time, so that our false self may disappear, and our real self remains to see the beauty of the Lord.
With all love and Jai Baba to you,
In His love and service,
Bhau
Trust Office
Kings Road
Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India
