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In \u201cThe Nobility of the Task,\u201d Johanne talks about how, in the Great Perfection tradition, the primordial intention permeates every action.
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[\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Feature 14″ _builder_version=”4.16″ min_height=”695px” custom_margin=”-1px|||||” custom_padding=”0px||0px|||” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”2″ make_equal=”on” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_margin=”|auto|-17px|auto||” custom_padding=”0px||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ module_class=”column1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding_tablet=”||50px|” custom_padding_phone=”” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” global_colors_info=”{}” padding_tablet=”||50px|” padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” custom_padding__hover=”|||” padding_phone=”||50px|”][et_pb_text quote_border_weight=”0px” quote_border_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” module_id=”up26″ _builder_version=”4.27.9″ text_font=”Montserrat||||||||” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em” link_font=”Montserrat|700||||||#BF9E77|” link_text_color=”#BF9E77″ link_font_size=”18px” link_line_height=”1.8em” quote_font=”Cormorant Garamond|700|||||||” quote_text_color=”#13204d” quote_line_height=”1.3em” header_font=”|700|||||||” header_2_font=”Quattrocento Sans|700|||||||” header_2_text_color=”#13204d” header_2_line_height=”1.6em” header_3_font=”|700|||||||” header_3_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_letter_spacing=”12px” header_5_font=”|300|||||||” header_5_text_color=”#bfbfbf” header_5_letter_spacing=”12px” header_6_font=”|700|||||||” header_6_letter_spacing=”12px” module_alignment=”left” min_height=”845.7px” custom_margin=”||-4px|||” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet” custom_padding=”2px||2px||true|” quote_font_size_tablet=”” quote_font_size_phone=”” quote_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” saved_tabs=”all” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
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A majestic forest, home to centuries-old trees. There<\/span>, a master cabinetmaker selects his wood. He examines the branches of a tree and runs his fingers over the bark of its trunk. With a single glance, he gauges its age; with a single touch, he assesses its qualities. Surrounded by the colossal trees, he breathes in the pure forest air and thanks nature for offering him this raw and noble material. Then he brings the wood back to his workshop. There, under his skilled hands, through a gesture repeated time and time again, he transforms the raw material into a carved chest, a rocking chair, or a cradle that will be passed down from generation to generation. In an atmosphere filled with wood shavings like stardust, the artisan, fully absorbed in his task, does far more than simply transform the material: he holds the essence of his intention in the palm of his hand, infuses it into the object, and makes every gesture a gift.<\/p>\n The artisan fully embodies the nobility of the task. He carries it in his intention and brings it into the material. For him, the question of the meaning of work simply does not arise. For us, who rush through our overloaded lives and sometimes can no longer find meaning in our work; for us, who throw ourselves wholeheartedly into work that sometimes struggles to provide for our needs – the very idea of the nobility of the task seems very distant.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOnce that primordial momentum is rediscovered, the nobility of the task lies in maintaining that intention. What begins as discipline gradually becomes natural and continuous. It is then no longer a task, but rather, the enlightened mind in action.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text quote_border_weight=”0px” quote_border_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” module_id=”up2″ _builder_version=”4.27.9″ text_font=”Montserrat||||||||” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em” link_font=”Montserrat|700||||||#000000|” link_text_color=”#BF9E77″ link_font_size=”18px” link_line_height=”1.8em” quote_font=”Cormorant Garamond|700|||||||” quote_text_color=”#13204d” quote_line_height=”1.3em” header_font=”|700|||||||” header_2_font=”Quattrocento Sans|700|||||||” header_2_text_color=”#13204d” header_2_line_height=”1.6em” header_3_font=”|700|||||||” header_3_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_letter_spacing=”12px” header_5_font=”|300|||||||” header_5_text_color=”#bfbfbf” header_5_letter_spacing=”12px” header_6_font=”|700|||||||” header_6_letter_spacing=”12px” module_alignment=”left” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet” custom_padding=”29px|||||” quote_font_size_tablet=”” quote_font_size_phone=”” quote_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” saved_tabs=”all” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Loss of meaning, exhaustion, and anxiety seem to be the hallmark of our modern society, where classifications \u2014brown-out, burn-out, bore-out\u2014 are proliferating to describe the same thing: suffering at work and its various forms\u2026 Some activities are said to be meaningful, while others are not. Some professions are said to offer fulfillment, while others do not. Well-paying jobs that lack meaning, and low-paying jobs that are meaningful\u2026 Caught up in the feeling that we must make choices and compromises, we embark on a relentless quest for solutions and workarounds that ultimately only exacerbate our exhaustion. This illusory race leads to the very loss of the momentum behind this quest and gives way to a profound sense of weariness and a great void.<\/p>\n According to tradition, this endless cycle of dissatisfaction and suffering is the real nature of samsara \u2014a flawed reality that only the realization of the true nature of suffering can bring to an end. In this sense, the tradition offers no external \u201csolution\u201d\u2014 one that is, in fact, transitory and incapable of ultimately satisfying us. Rather, it invites us to change our perspective on how we understand suffering in all areas of our existence, including our work, where the search for meaning ultimately reveals the lack of meaning in the rest of our lives.<\/p>\n Changing our perspective is, according to tradition, a matter of orienting our mind: turning toward intention rather than toward the result, toward the source rather than toward the projection. It is ultimately realizing that the result is, at its core, intention. It is in this intention that the impetus – the dynamic of action – lies. It is this intention that carries meaning, not the action itself that generates it<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the Indo-Tibetan tradition, the ultimate intention is bodhicit<\/em>ta \u2014the intention of reaching enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. Ultimately, the nature of activity doesn\u2019t matter, as long as it is driven by bodhicitta<\/em>. The meaning of work lies not in the nature of the task but in the state of mind with which it is performed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/dzogchentoday.org\/wp-dzogtodaychen-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/The-Nobility-of-the-Task.png” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” alt=”@dzogchentoday” title_text=”The Nobility of the Task..” align=”center” border_radii=”on|1px|1px|1px|1px” border_width_all=”1px” box_shadow_style=”preset3″ hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text quote_border_weight=”0px” quote_border_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” module_id=”up26″ _builder_version=”4.27.9″ text_font=”Montserrat||||||||” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em” link_font=”Montserrat|700||||||#000000|” link_text_color=”#BF9E77″ link_font_size=”18px” link_line_height=”1.8em” quote_font=”Cormorant Garamond|700|||||||” quote_text_color=”#13204d” quote_line_height=”1.3em” header_font=”|700|||||||” header_2_font=”Quattrocento Sans|700|||||||” header_2_text_color=”#13204d” header_2_line_height=”1.6em” header_3_font=”|700|||||||” header_3_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_letter_spacing=”12px” header_5_font=”|300|||||||” header_5_text_color=”#bfbfbf” header_5_letter_spacing=”12px” header_6_font=”|700|||||||” header_6_letter_spacing=”12px” module_alignment=”left” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet” custom_padding=”29px|||||” quote_font_size_tablet=”” quote_font_size_phone=”” quote_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” saved_tabs=”all” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n The nobility of the task then takes on another, more fundamental meaning. That of an action driven by an impulse that is both unchanging and precious, a \u201cnoble\u201d intention\u2014guided by the well-being of all beings\u2014which permeates all our actions, acting like a remedy added to water, so that the whole water becomes a remedy too. As Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, a great 20th-century Nyingma master, writes:<\/p>\n \u201cWhen someone has realized the view of dzogchen and has perfected the meditation on that basis, then the precious thought of enlightenment develops in their mind, and at that point whatever actions of body, speech and mind are performed, there is not even one that will not be for the benefit of sentient beings. This can be compare to adding medicine to water. If one adds medicine to water, all of the water turns into medicine. If one were to add poison to the water, all of it would turn to poison. Whoever drinks the medicinal water or washes with it will derive only benefit from it.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>[1]<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Once that primordial momentum is rediscovered, the nobility of the task lies in maintaining<\/span> that intention. What begins as discipline gradually becomes natural and continuous. It is then no longer a task, but rather<\/span> the enlightene<\/span>d mind in action. And the work is no longer work, but the expression of spontaneous and natural compassion – both the foundation and the radiance of Rigpa. It is an ultimate<\/span> gesture like an offering, as much given as received, and repeated endlessly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#FFD62F” divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”3px” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” module_alignment=”left” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”30px|30px|30px|30px|true|true” border_width_left=”1px” border_color_left=”#f7f2e8″ border_width_left_tablet=”0px” border_width_left_phone=”” border_width_left_last_edited=”on|tablet” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_signup mailchimp_list=”Dzogchen Today!|d54422a3b4″ name_field=”on” title=”Sign up for Our Newsletter” _builder_version=”4.21.0″ form_field_focus_background_color=”#f7f2e8″ header_font=”||||||||” header_text_align=”center” header_font_size=”32px” use_background_color=”off” background_image=”https:\/\/dzogchentoday.org\/wp-dzogtodaychen-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/concreteLight.png” background_layout=”light” width=”100%” custom_padding=”||||false|false” border_radii_fields=”on||||” border_width_bottom_fields=”1px” border_color_bottom_fields=”#d9c6a4″ box_shadow_style=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_signup][et_pb_divider color=”#BF9E77″ divider_weight=”3px” _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”50px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_sidebar area=”sidebar-1″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” body_font=”Quattrocento Sans||||||||” body_text_align=”left” body_text_color=”#13204D” body_font_size=”18px” body_letter_spacing=”1px” body_line_height=”1.8em” background_image=”https:\/\/dzogchentoday.org\/wp-dzogtodaychen-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/concreteBackground.png” text_orientation=”left” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”10px|10px||10px|false|false” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_sidebar][et_pb_sidebar show_border=”on” _builder_version=”4.16″ text_orientation=”left” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_sidebar][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text module_id=”down” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Montserrat||||||||” text_orientation=”justified” width=”100%” module_alignment=”left” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n\n