Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There

Over at the Forbidden Gospels Blog, Professor April DeConick just posted one of my favorite logia from the Gospel of Thomas.

Jesus said, “There was a wealthy man who had many assets. He said, ‘I will use my assets to sow, harvest, plant and fill my granaries with produce, so that I will not need anything.’ These were the things he was thinking in his heart. But that very night, he died.”

Of course it has corollaries in the canonical sayings attributed to Jesus, as well.

But I find something compelling in this variation of the text. I think it is the sense of urgency…

It haunts me.

It reminds me of that line chanted by a ghostly voice at the end of every night in sesshin, our intensive Zen meditation retreats.

Let me respectfully remind you,
life and death are of supreme importance.
Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost.
Each of us should strive to awaken… awaken…
Take heed.
Do not squander your life.

Of course the how of not squandering is complex.

For some this might mean eat, drink and be merry.

For others it might mean take on that project.

For, me, it is a call to the deep…

Summarized nicely, I think, in a sign I once saw posted at the San Francisco Zen Center.

Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There.