In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.
With strength drawn from the Supreme Power, Allah, we begin this session.
Hello friends, I am Hossein, a traveler and the guardian of this session.
I kindly ask that we observe fourteen seconds of silence to seek refuge in the Almighty for our liberation from our most powerful enemy—our own ignorance and unawareness.
Thank you, friends.
I now request the secretary to read the summary of the previous session and announce today’s agenda.
The seventh session of the 85th round of Congress 60’s educational workshops—dedicated to both travelers and companions—began at 09:50 a.m. on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, with Mr. Hossein Dezhakam as the master of the ceremony, serving also as the guardian, and Companion Iran as the secretary with the agenda “Summer Holidays”.
Hello friends, I am Hossein, a traveler. I hope all of you are doing well. I am fine too. Today is Mordad 1th, 1404 (July 23, 2025) and it is 10:00 a.m. and we are in the Academy branch of Congress 60, in Tehran. Well, Tir is over and we've entered Mordad. Soon enough, the rest of the months will pass and another New Year will arrive.”
Well, I am reading the Didehbans’ (Watchmen) meeting report. The third meeting of the Didehbans in the year 1404 (Solar Hijri) was held on Monday, Tir 30th (July 21, 2025), at 2:00 PM in the Simorgh building, under the guardianship of the Deputy of the Congress 60 Base, Mr. Amin, and the secretaryship of Ali Khodami.
The topics discussed in this meeting are as follows, subject to approval by the Guardian of Congress 60 (Mr. Hossein Dezhakam):
1- Regarding the encouragement of travelers to bring their companions to Congress 60, the following proposal was put forward:
• Adding a new agenda item titled “The Importance and Role of Companions in Addiction Cure”
• Instructing the guides to speak about this topic within their legions—personally and directly
• Sending formal invitations to companions to attend Congress 60
These three points were suggested, and the details and conditions will be communicated to you later.
2- In the coordination meeting of the servants (volunteers or helpers), which is held once a month with the presence of all the servants at the branches of Congress 60, a portion of the session time should be allocated to discussing the CDs designated by Mr. Amin. Since some of these CDs pertain to the Cognizance (awareness) and related topics, they are extremely beneficial for these meetings and can be effectively utilized.
3- Please note carefully: During the educational workshops, all departments, including the Marzbans’ (border-guards’) room, the OT section and the publications, remain closed. All the Marzbans and servants must stay in the session until after the recitation of the Marzban’s messages. When the workshop session is in progress, the Border Guards’ room, the OT section, and all other departments must remain closed. No section is permitted to be open during the educational workshops, as everyone is required to attend and participate in the workshops.
4- In Congress 60, there is no such thing as an 'Agent’s desk.' Whether in the women’s or men’s groups, there is no designated desk called the Agent’s desk. In the Marzbans’ room, it is not intended for all the border guards and the agent to have their own desks. The idea that the agent should have a desk and all the border guards should also have individual desks is not part of the structure at all. The only desk in the Marzbans’ room belongs to the duty Marzban. The Agent’s role is not executive, they guide, direct, and supervise, not sit behind a desk giving orders.” Did you notice? They provide direction and point out any shortcomings or issues that need to be addressed. It doesn’t mean that the Agent should come in like a boss, sit down, and order everyone around: ‘You do this, you do that, you do this. Even when a meeting is held, the agent is the one leading it. They play a very prominent role, but they have to be like a tightrope walker. In the Border Guards' Room, there is only one desk, designated exclusively for the duty border guard. This arrangement has been formally approved by the Didehbans (Watchmen).
5- Didehbans present at the meeting included: Amin, Ani the Archer, Ali Ashkzari, Babak, Mehdi, Reza, Mehdi Sedighi, Mohammad Sadegh, Alireza, Asghar, Ahmad, Majid, and Ali. I think two of the Watchmen candidates were also present at that meeting—probably Javad and Abdullah, if I recall correctly. “With respects, the Secretary of the meeting”.
There are also a few other points I would like to raise: One of them is the matter of the Jones’s (healthy nutrition) Legion. The Jones Legion (a group focused on healthy nutrition and weight balance) is very important and highly influential group, so much so that in the future, it will even surpass the Addiction Cure Legion in significance. This shows just how important the issue is. The reason is that while not everyone struggles with addiction, the majority of people, around 70%, are struggling with being overweight. In Congress 60, this (reaching a healthy weight) is gradually taking root, and we're witnessing something extraordinary, for instance, you see people easily losing 30kg, 40kg, even 50kg. However, the guides of these legions (Jones’s or healthy nutrition legions) haven't received their shawls yet, they soon will, and an exam will be taken from them shortly.
There are some points that we must definitely observe in Jones’ legions. One of them is that when they have a meeting (Healthy Nutrition Legion) in the park, their guides also have a gathering (with their pupils). At Taleghani Park, where I attend on Friday mornings, it feels like a feast! A wide variety of foods such as grilled chicken, Gheimeh stew, Fesenjan stew, Ash (traditional Persian dishes like stews, and soups.), turkey, you name it. Well, this disrupts the pupils’ dietary plans. The pupil is part of both Jones's legion and their own. However, at Taleghani Park (or other Congress 60 parks), we do not have anything officially called a ‘legion’ (for addiction cure). In the mornings, they may gather informally, share a meal, perhaps an omelette or something else, but that’s not the issue. However, the fact is, we don’t have any official legions at the park. Legions only exist at the branches, and Taleghani Park (or other parks) is only for physical exercise. Therefore, under no circumstances do we conduct any educational legions in Congress 60 parks. There are only two Legions: The Nicotine Addiction Cure Legion and Jones’s Legion, both serve as self-education platforms for their members.
So, an Orange-Shawl guide (the guide of addiction cure) cannot tell a pupil, 'Don’t attend Jones’s Legion, come have breakfast with us or Join our gathering instead.' Let me reiterate - we don’t have any educational legions in Taleghani Park or any other parks. Consequently, if while having breakfast, there's a pupil who belongs to Jones' Legion, they must absolutely go to Jones' Legion.
The next point is that individuals participating in Jones’s Legion must absolutely have their names submitted to the Marzban Team and they must be formally referred to Jones’s Legion through the Marzban department. In Congress 60, anyone who wants to enter this stage must be introduced to them (the Jones’s Legion guides) by the Marzbans. The Marzban says, 'Sir or Madam, Jones’s Legion guide! This person wants to join Jones’s Legion'. Then the border guard registers the person's name. If this individual joins Jones’s Legion, attends for 2-3 month, then abandons participation – or discontinues after losing 5kg, since their name has been registered, they will not be allowed to participate in any Jones’s Legion for the next two years. This is not an open house where you can come and go as you please. Here, someone joins the Jones’s Legion, stays for two or three months, then quits and moves to another legion. Then disappears for two months and suddenly comes back again. No! Strict rules and regulations must be established for the Jones’s Legion, and I am implementing them step by step. I’ve presented part of it for now, and the rest will be addressed accordingly.
There’s another issue to consider. You see, some things might be very good and appropriate in certain places, but they can have dual uses depending on the context. For example, using a tasbih (prayer beads) is highly respectable in mosques, funeral ceremonies and in sacred places such as Karbala, Hajj, Najaf, and while visiting the Kaaba. It’s also regarded as meaningful in some families and spiritual environments. However, when the same object is used in cafés, it takes on a completely different meaning. Someone sitting there spinning the tasbih around their finger sends a completely different message, it carries a different meaning and is interpreted in another way.
Or take rings, for example. What do you need four agate rings for? What’s the purpose? This isn’t some café! If you go to a café , you’ll see that many people there wear four or five rings. Snake charmers and street performers often wear several rings. Even the beggars sitting around the mosque are often wearing four or five rings. Wearing that many rings carries no real meaning or value. You can wear one ring, a single, beautiful ring, not five. One ring is enough, and perhaps a wedding band as well, whether you're a man or a woman. Therefore, the guides should remind their pupils not to wear excessive rings. We must maintain simplicity and modesty in our appearance.
During holidays, all Congress 60 branches are closed. No branch or representative office is allowed to carry out repairs or maintenance on the grounds of being on holiday. We may want to replace the sewage system, carry out maintenance, or do plumbing work, but no, everything must be completely suspended. Everything completely stops during the holidays. Only under specific circumstances may some Marzbans, with prior coordination with the Agent, briefly visit the branch once a day — for purposes such as watering flowers, plants, or grass, or to check on overall safety and security. Those in Tehran may briefly visit [their branches] and return immediately. They may do this, but absolutely no repair or maintenance work! Unless they coordinate with me first for urgent tasks that cannot be done during regular operating hours – they may only do it then.
We don't want a situation where we’re all on vacation while the Marzbans are busy working, occupied with these tasks, and unable to enjoy their own holidays. Well, these were some points that I raised for you, and I hope you’ll implement them.
The issue we’re facing is the matter of “holidays”. There was a time when Congress 60 had just started its work, and we didn’t have any holidays at all. We didn’t even have a break on the first day of the New Year, on Sizdah Bedar (Nature’s Day in the Iranian calendar), or even on Ashura (the 10th day of the Islamic month of Muharram). But later, Ashura was counted as a holiday (in Congress 60). There was only one holiday in Congress 60, and that was the day of Ashura. On the day of Ashura, we also held our own ceremony here and even had a religious gathering (Hey’at). Later, the day of Tasua (the 9th day of the Islamic month of Muharram) was also added to it (holidays).
Because we were worried that we can’t let our members in recovery have too much free time, they absolutely need to attend the (addiction cure) sessions. This approach was also influenced by other recovery groups, as these groups never have holidays under any circumstances; they must always hold meetings and attend them because most participants are in a state of “Cold Turkey” (quitting drugs instantaneously). (So they can be at high risk of relapse). Even when they go (on a trip) to other cities during Nowruz Holidays, there are some signs indicating where the branches are, so they can attend workshops and classes there, because if they don’t participate in the workshops, they might relapse into drug use. This had influenced us culturally too. But later we realized - no! We don’t actually need to do this. Our reasoning was that Congress 60 is like a police station — police stations never close, so Congress 60 shouldn’t close either. Or we said Congress 60 is like a hospital — of course, it provides cure, so it’s not strange to say that — and hospitals don’t have holidays. Therefore, we don’t have holidays either because we are part of treatment (cure) centers.
Today is also an official holiday in Tehran, but we’ve still come - because we're a cure center and we have work to do. Since this is the last session before the holidays, canceling today would have disrupted many plans and caused problems.
Then I realized – no, holidays don't actually cause problems. So we decided to close Congress 60 during official holidays too, allowing the guides (both men and women) to tend to their work and personal lives. We found this approach worked well in practice. Since the results were positive, we concluded we could also close for Nowruz holidays (the Persian New Year). As a result, Congress 60 now completely closes for two weeks (15 days) during the Nowruz holidays. We decided that under no circumstances should the guides have contact with their pupils, not even answering their phone calls—unless the student faces a genuine emergency. In such cases, the student can send a text message to their guide stating “I have an extremely urgent matter” and request help. Otherwise, all guides (both female and male) are strictly prohibited from responding to their pupils during our designated holidays.
Congress 60 pupils, being on medication (OT or Opium Tincture) replacement therapy and having received proper education, experience no disruptions in their cure process. In the years we have experienced (having holidays), we've observed no issues arose, - praise God - everyone remains stable. We used to worry about member attrition or relapse, but no! We found no significant dropouts or relapses. If there are a few percent, it doesn’t matter—they are considered weak, and the weak get trampled. Those who are lax and careless will relapse anyway, holiday or not, but it’s even better if they relapse during the holidays; it doesn’t matter at all. Therefore, go on your holiday with complete peace of mind, try to make the most of it and (you, guides) also let the pupils be.
If a pupil spills or loses their medication (Opium Tincture) — well, it’s spilled — they have to wait (maybe until the end of holidays), because their guide is on vacation, with their family, or busy working. The student shouldn't keep calling: 'Sir, what should I do? What should I do? What should I do?' This is exactly the kind of communication we should avoid.
Another issue is this: As human beings, are we meant to truly live or merely to exist? In any country you visit, you’ll see many tourists who have come for sightseeing and leisure. Yet we have turned ourselves into tractors: laboring from dawn till dusk, day after day, night after night. But then, what of rest? What of holidays? What of the very essence of life itself? Money is for living a comfortable life — not for sacrificing life just to collect money. The point is, it doesn’t matter how much money we have; we can always find a place (to spend our vacation) that fits our budget. Even if we have nothing, we can put a tent on the back of the car, drive somewhere, and set up camp. There are plenty of places — parks with restrooms and all the facilities you need. It’s summer — go there, pitch your tent, and truly live. Take some Barbari bread (a kind of bread in Iran) or bread from Tehran (or your hometown) with you to enjoy. It’s about that inner happiness (it’s all about that simple joy). So, try to make the most of this holiday.
Currently, we have two holiday periods, and everyone has learned—including myself—how to make the most of them. I’m also required to take my family on a 15-day trip during Nowruz, whether to the north or south (of Iran). I truly rest during those few days. This week, I’m also going to Hidaj. I’ll spend two weeks there in nature, resting—away from the noise, work, and everything else. So, let’s give ourselves permission to rest. Therefore, everyone should try to make the most of the holidays as much as possible. And if you can’t go anywhere, no problem—just go to Shah Abdol-Azim (a historic shrine in Rey, near Tehran) and have some kebab with basil (a classic Iranian combo like “burger and fries”)! Of course, only if you can afford it (jokingly), because kebab is very expensive these days!
Back in the day, people would say 'Let's eat Dizi (traditional Iranian stew served in stone pots) - it's cheap!' or 'Let's have kebab - it's affordable!' Well, not anymore. Even those are expensive now. But it doesn't really matter. My point is: go there, or just pull over by the roadside somewhere. Let’s try to live in the present and make the most of it. As I’ve said many times in my CDs that unfortunately, we either live in the past or in the future. When we live in the past, we become depressed; when we live in the future, we get anxious. We must learn to live in the present moment. These fifteen days of holiday that we take are meant for us to practice living in the present moment. I hope you all enjoy the holidays and make the most of this opportunity. Thank you all for listening to my words—thanks, thank you, merci.
Furthermore, dear ones! Please make sure to pay attention: during the holidays, you must absolutely transcribe the CDs. Be sure to transcribe the CDs without fail. The guides should emphasize this matter, because the only connection to Congress 60 can be through the CDs, which can establish a very strong bond that will help us in our progress and growth.
This morning, as I arrived early, I had already issued the command of liberation (from addiction) to at least 93 to 94 individuals before Amin arrived. Considering that we also issued the command of liberation on Monday and Friday, the number of liberated individuals exceeds 200 per week. They take about 400 people, keep them in a rehab camp for six months with all those expenses, and in the end, most go back to using drugs anyway (laughingly). But we, for example, issue the command of liberation to around 200 individuals per week who achieve permanent recovery—they won’t relapse. At most, less than ten percent might relapse.
Absolutely go on the trip—even first-travel pupils should go, and the guides must not prevent them. They need to get out there and even get stuck in traffic. Well, every rose has its thorns! So, the point is that first-travel pupils absolutely can go on a trip. God forbid, the guides say that first-travel pupils are not allowed to travel. No—they should be allowed to travel, but once there, they must avoid consuming alcohol or engaging in any other harmful behaviors (laughingly), because that would makes things worse than ever. However, it is essential for them to have this experience.
In my opinion, they have reached an educational level where they can maintain their sobriety. Moreover, they don’t have problems; in fact, first-travel pupils are actually easier to handle than second-travel ones because they take their OT (opium tincture as their medication) morning, noon, and night, so they don’t have any issues. The real problem is with cold-turkey quitters, who are in free fall, having abruptly quit drugs—they have problem because their bodies, physiology, nervous systems, and endogenous opioid systems are not functioning properly. These are the ones facing (health) difficulties, but the travelers (of addiction cure journey) in Congress 60 have no such issues.
The cure process in Congress 60 is as easy as pie (the cure of addiction to drugs and nicotine and also obesity treatment). Back in the day, we used to encourage people a bit more, but currently it’s a piece of cake! Because you come, participate in the educational sessions, they give you pure, government-sealed OT (Opium Tincture), and you take it little by little. You stay on that step for 21 days, then your body’s metabolism gets ready, and you move on to the next step. So, there’s really no problem.
The individual who insists on attending the (recovery) meetings regardless of their location, is often still experiencing withdrawal symptoms. When you’ve taken your medication (opium tincture), even if you’re stuck in traffic for 10 hours, it doesn’t matter. Even if you stay in traffic for 24 hours, you have your medicine with you, you take it on time, have some tea, and there’s absolutely no problem. All first-travel pupils can easily go on a trip and enjoy their journey because they also take their medication (OT), no problem at allThere’s nothing special or difficult about it. Congress 60 is like a highway—you enter it, there are guides, there’s a program, there’s your medication (OT), everything is organized, and then you achieve the cure. So, don’t be afraid of anything.
It should be mentioned that now the CDs are released on Saturday morning; we’ve scheduled it for the beginning of the week, which is Saturday morning (in Iran). Thank you very much. Since this is the last session before the holidays, I’ll wrap it up, so that everyone can catch their flights on time (jokingly).
Let me remind you of something I missed earlier; look, in every section we have a Didehban (watchman) – this part was left out. For example, we have a watchman for the border guards. When the Didehban of the Marzbans visits a branch—either personally, or through the watchman assistant of the Marzbans—they can review all the Marzbans’ CD notebooks (the notebooks in which they transcribe while listening to educational CDs). They can ask the Marzbans to bring all their CD notebooks, saying, “I want to check your notes”. And it’s not the case that you can say, “No, you don’t have the authority—our CD notebooks are reviewed by the Agent.” Even if the agent reviews them, they (the watchman or his assistant) can still ask all theMarzbans to bring their CD notebooks to be checked and reviewed. They should inform them in advance to make sure this is done. For example, imagine the watchman assistant of OT visits a branch to inspect the OT section. When they arrive, they tell the servants, “All OT staff, please bring your CD notebooks—I want to review your notes.” They have full authority to do this. In other words, in any field related to their own area of responsibility, they have this authority. For instance, someone who is the watchman assistant of OT wouldn’t check the border guards’ CD notebooks, because they don’t have that authority—but within their own section or area of work, they can review all the CD notebooks. These inspections by the watchmen and their assistants—for CD notebooks and many other tasks—are completely authorized and are part of their official duties, so please keep this in mind. For example, if the assistant of the Maezbans visits Kermanshah branch and says, “Marzbans, bring your CD notebooks for me to review,” they must bring them immediately and show them—whether the assistant of the Family Group (Companions) or another section. This is because CD notebooks are the most important matter for us. The most important factor that maintains our connection with all the members of Congress 60 is our own CDs. All those who don’t transcribe CDs gradually change their behavior, slowly deteriorate or regress, and become different in some way. That is why transcribing CDs is essential. If some don’t transcribe CDs, then you’ll notice their way of speaking changes, their attitude changes, and their behavior changes. So, this is one of the obligations we have. No one in Congress 60 should be exempt from transcribing CDs.
All the watchmen transcribe the CDs, and Mr. Khodami checks and reviews them (CD notebooks) all. My family members also all transcribe the CDs and bring them to me for signing. Therefore, this applies to everyone and is one of our essential matters that must definitely be done. I entrust all of you to the Almighty God, and God willing, after the holidays, I hope to see you again in different places.
Translated by companion Sepideh, Legion 22, Sheikhbahaei branch of congress 60, Isfahan, Iran
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Revised by: Companion Marjan