The 10th session of the 83rd round of Congress 60 workshops in the Academy branch of Congress 60 was administered on December 25th, 2024 at 10 a.m. by Mr. Hossein Dezhakam as the Guardian and Ms. Fariba as the secretary. The agenda was “Celebration of Companions’ Week”.
In the name of Almighty God, we begin the session. Hello friends, my name is Hossein, and I am a traveler. I am the guardian of this session. I kindly ask for 14 seconds of silence to seek refuge with God and to free ourselves from the most powerful enemy, our own ignorance and lack of knowledge. I request that the secretary present a summary of the previous session's performance and the agenda for today.
Hello friends, I am Hossein a traveler. I hope you are all doing well. Thanks to God, I am also doing well. Today is the 5th of September, 2024, and five days have passed since the beginning of winter. The autumn season has ended. It is 10:02 a.m., and we are in Simorgh building in Tehran. The Wednesday meetings were previously held at Academy branch of Congress 60. Since the music group of Congress 60 was supposed to perform, we decided it would be better to hold the meeting in Simorgh building. I am a witness to the efforts of the music group, and most of the musicians are members of Congress 60 who have received training within Congress 60 [every Friday, Congress 60 offers tutorials for its members interested in music at the Academy branch of Congress 60]. We have teachers who provide this training. There were children who learned music in Congress 60 and later went on to perform, and we will explain this later.
The agenda for this session is the Basis of Congress 60, and next week is devoted to Companions [Companions’ week]. Today's session falls between these two groups. We talked about the Basis last week during our celebration, where we focused on returning to the past so that newcomers can see where we started and where we have reached. The newcomers come and attend classes and use programs and wonder where we came from [where we started]. This explanation is important because we are now in a place where we are showing the progress we've made. We also have a week dedicated to remembering the Basis, honoring those who have been with us from the beginning. Many people from the past, like Hossein Karimi and Kourosh Azarpour, have worked with us and are no longer with us [they have died], and their efforts were significant.
I have shared this story many times: when we first started Congress 60 during the holy month of Ramadan, we were only about 15-20 people. We wanted to offer a simple Iftar with cheese [and bread], but there was not enough money to buy more than one block of cheese, which we intended to divide among 40 people, it resembles a Persian idiom: “having one raisin to be divided up among 40 champions” [Too many mouths to feed and too little to share]. We didn't have enough money for even one block of cheese. At that time, we used a string to cut the cheese into thin pieces because the knife was too thick to cut it like a salami. We had not enough money to buy a block of cheese, but now, look where we are, sitting in our own building. This is the result of years of effort.
Dr. Daneshmand, a longtime friend, shared a beautiful statement with me: "Knowledge is something that can be converted into money." If you look around, you can see that knowledge has been converted into wealth. Take Einstein’s relativity theory as an example: while his personal wealth might not have been great, his research led to vast financial investments for scientific institutions. The same is true for Newton. Teachers and scholars work hard in education, and their knowledge benefits various fields, including engineering and science. Louis Pasteur discovered microbes, and his knowledge led to financial success. So, if knowledge is truly knowledge, it transforms into wealth.
If we didn't have knowledge, we wouldn't have money today. “For goods to be tradable, they must be of high quality” [mentioned by Mr. Dezhakam’s Master, Sardar]. If they're not, they won't be useful in trade. And here, there's a very strange magic, which is God's magic, because you go into the fire [you tolerate the hardship] and emerge from the garden [you will be at ease eventually], or you enter the garden and come out from the fire. Congress 60 is free and doesn’t ask for money from anyone. Its motto is, "feed anyone who enters [this place], but do NOT ask about their faith [religion], by Shiekh Abolhasan Kharaghani, an Iranian Mystic and Sufi]. When someone comes in Congress 60, they are given a seat, tea, and free teachers. Nothing is asked from them, except for the payment for the Medication (Opium Tincture) they buy from clinics and for purchasing books. But all the services are free. And how did this system, which doesn't ask for money, receives so much money from individuals volunteering to pay money, 100 times more than the organizations which require money from its members? [In parenthesis, you have to remember that anyone who has voluntarily paid 1000 dollars, 5000 dollars or more can come and claim their money to be retrieved]. We have received so much money, because, producing knowledge brings money with itself, this is the magic of God. We provide all the services for free, but we have no financial problems. Every action that has a spiritual value brings material rewards.
The buildings that have been built, the work that has been done, shows that we have reached a point where we must share [with the world] what we've achieved. This process started outside the country and will soon return to the country. This is a significant point.
Next week is the week of the Companions, starting on Saturday. In our Congress’s 60 educational year, we have four important celebrations: the celebration for Companions, for Guides, for Didebans (Watchers), and for Agents, Border-Guards, and Assistants. The week begins on Saturday and is dedicated to the companions. All travelers should honor their companions, whether it’s their spouse or parents. This appreciation should be expressed in three ways: heartfelt, verbal, and practical. Saying "thank you" is fine, but Congress 60 says appreciation should be heartfelt, verbal, and practical. You can express your gratitude in your heart, say it out loud, but the practical part is where you either give money or gold. All travelers must honor their companions with money or gold.
I didn't bring anything with me today to thank my own companions, though all of them are attending here. I was going to bring something, but I forgot. Whenever I brought them their gifts, they were not present, but today they are all here but I forgot to bring their envelopes [of money].
Next week, we will show our appreciation to the companions. Making plans for each branch’s celebration is due to the agents and border guards. For each person’s refreshments, you can spend 30,000 tomans [almost half a dollar]. The agents and border guards can buy fruit, sweets, or organize some music. But don't play music that could cause any trouble or lead to dancing that might create issues [due to religious limitations imposed by the government]. Do whatever you want, but avoid causing harm. Amin, we are at your disposal; here is the music band of Congress 60, led by Mr. Amin Dezhakam. Please note that most of the musicians have learned and received their music training within Congress 60.
https://www.congress60.org/News/373949/%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87-%D8%A2%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B2%D8%B4%DB%8C-%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86%E2%80%8C%D8%A8%DB%8C%D9%86%DB%8C-%D9%87%D9%81%D8%AA%D9%87-%D9%87%D9%85%D8%B3%D9%81%D8%B1
Translated by Elahe
