Interviewer: Please introduce yourself in terms of Congress60’s custom.
Mrs. Zohre: Hello friends, I am Zohre. Saeed’s companion. Saeed had been addicted to opium for 17 years. Under the supervision of Mr. Ahmad and Ms. Mozhgan, we have been liberated from addition seven years ago.
Interviewer: When did you get familiar with Congress60 and when did you begin your travel?
Mrs. Zohre: I guess it was 1999 or 2000 when we entered Congress60. I got familiar with Congress60 through a TV show. After our liberation from addiction and after a lapse of six years, we entered Congress60 again with the grace of God. We are still in Congress60 now and I implore God that we would be efficient in Congress60 and we can take our actions according to Congress60’s rules and be at the service of Congress60.
Interviewer: What do you think about passing the tough way of treatment to reach peace?
Mrs. Zohre: I think crossing the path of liberation from addiction is both easy and difficult. With patience and forgiving (others), I can get the best possible things. I only use the first-person pronouns [to refer to myself], because in Congress60, we only speak about ourselves. Since we have not the acquired knowledge of [the DST method], the time and the medicine, and the ups and downs in the path of liberation from addiction; we have to be patient so that we can receive the instructions. I need forgiveness to apply whatever I have acquired. To change whatever you know to effective cognizance (knowledge), we need patience and forgiveness, because it is painful to change into a person that you were not before. If you want to be forgiven, you must forgive others.
Interviewer: What services have you done in Congress60? What were the effects of these services?
Mrs. Zohre: I have tried to do whatever I could. I have served in different positions including the newcomers’ guide, secretary, guest speaker, master of the ceremonies and border-guard. Now I am a guide-assistant and I do my best to be a good server for Congress60. Serving people, having a disciplined and orderly life, learning the policies of life and living in peace are the direct results of serving in Congress60.
Interviewer: What is your advice for the newcomers who have just started their travel in which they may encounter lots of difficulties and obstacles?
Mrs. Zohre: I would say to them that for years we have been patient, living with our addicted family members without knowing addiction. But now, using the fourteen valleys, the book of Crossing the Zone of 60 Degrees below Zero, educational CDs and the unique instructions of Congress60, we can move more appropriately and conveniently. With the assistance of these unique instructions we can act more patiently and knowledgeably, since the path will be revealed as we take a step.
Interviewer: At the beginning, some companions or travelers may start their travel doubtfully. What strategy do you suggest to have a good travel?
Mrs. Zohre: We have the eighth valley reading that the Devil is your obvious enemy. The Devil’s and the Carnal Self’s instruments are disappointment and fear. I know unknown matters may create fear, but we have to overcome our fears. I suggest that the newcomers wait and stay in Congress60 for four months and if the path was not revealed to them, they can leave here. The other thing to add is that if you want an immediate cold turkey, go to other NGOs, but if you desire a complete and definite treatment, [stay here] and continue this way. This way is time-consuming but sure and needs appropriate thinking, experiencing and knowledge; and this requires much patience.
Interviewer: We all have promised on the Genesis Day not to disobey God, what can we do to keep this promise?
Mrs. Zohre: Just we have to obey the rules and not to disobey them, we have to know the values and anti-values and apply the rules.
Interviewer: Please tell us your opinion about this poem by Attar-Neishabouri reading “if you are the [true] human being, you have to cross blood: you have to walk on your head instead of your feet”.
Mrs. Zohre: When I read this poem anywhere, I get a strange feeling and I do not know the reason why I feel this way, but I love it. I claim that I am that true human but I am not sure whether I can walk on my head, instead of my feet!
Interviewer: Mrs. Zohre, how can we compensate for the destructions we have undergone?
Mrs. Zohre: If I accept my weaknesses and understand that if I accuse a person, I am definitely more blameworthy than them, I can compensate for the destructions I have made on my own.
Interviewer: How is it possible to have more accountable children using the instructions of Congress60?
Mrs. Zohre: Congress60’s instructions reveal the appropriate way of living for me so that I can act based on the rules of Existence. The first valley teaches thinking to me. The second valley tells me that I have not been created purposelessly. As I step forward, other valleys come to my assistance with lots of instructions; therefore, as I act appropriately, my child will learn how to live and to be accountable, since children will learn whatever they see, not whatever they hear.
Interviewer: What is your message for the newcomers who have just started their travel?
Mrs. Zohre: I always tell them to be frank with themselves: find your aims and purposes and prioritize them. If you follow your wants like a thirty person looking for water, you will achieve them. Avoid standing on the sidelines. And if you want peace, just observe yourself (your own behaviours, but not others).
Interviewer: Thank you for allocating your time to this interview. I wish you and your respected family success and health.
Prepared by companion Effat, Shahre-Rey branch
Photographer: companion Fateme
Translted by Elahe
