The sixth session of the 86th round of Congress 60 educational workshops—held for travelers and companions—started on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, at 10:00 a.m., with Mr. Hossein Dezhakam serving as the master of the ceremony and the guardian, and traveler Farhad as the secretary. The agenda for this session was “The Role of Educational CDs and Transcribing Them in Learning.”
Hello friends, I am Hossein, a traveler and the guardian of this session.
I kindly ask that we observe a fourteen-second silence to seek refuge in the Almighty and free ourselves from our most powerful enemy—our own ignorance and unawareness. Thank you, friends. I ask the secretary to read the summary of the previous session and announce today’s agenda.
Hello friends, I’m Hossein, a traveler. I hope you’re all doing well; by God’s grace, I’m fine too.
Today is the 12th of November, 2025. So far, we haven’t had a single drop of rain, and we hope God will bless us with some rainfall so we can be relieved, even a little, from this severe drought.
It’s now 10:07 in the morning, and we are here in the Academy building.
Congratulations to all of you on Golrizan Week. Everyone is spending this week beautifully and offering their contributions with a good spirit.
There was once a king, and one of the servants came to him and said, “I’m very happy working for you. My financial situation is good, my wife and children are well, and in every way I’m grateful and content.” The king told his minister, “One of the court’s servants came to me and said these things.”
The minister replied, “I think he might be one of the ‘ninety-niners.’”
The king asked, “What do you mean, ‘ninety-niners’?”
The minister said, “I’ll show you. Give him ninety-nine gold coins and a sack of rice and have it delivered to his home anonymously.”
So the king agreed. They sent ninety-nine gold coins along with a sack of rice to the home of the man who had just said he was satisfied with everything.
He began counting the coins: ninety-nine.
He counted them five or six times—still ninety-nine.
He said to himself, “Why isn’t it one hundred? Ninety-nine doesn’t make sense!”
He searched here and there, thinking maybe one coin had fallen somewhere. He turned the place upside down but there was no missing coin.
The next day he said, “I need to earn enough to make this a hundred.”
So he started working harder and harder so he could collect one more coin and “round out” the number.
The following day the king noticed him and saw that his mood had changed, that he no longer had that joy and peace he used to have.
“What happened to him?” the king asked.
The minister said, “This is exactly what I meant. Look—he has become entangled in financial worry. Even though he was given ninety-nine gold coins for free, he no longer values them. He is only obsessed with making it a hundred.”
Now, there are so many people who are stuck trying to turn their ninety-nine into a full hundred. Exactly! (Mr. Dezhakam laughs.) Yes, they insist on making it a hundred. They struggle from morning until night—running here, running there—“Let me buy this house… let me buy that shop… let me exchange my dollars… let me do this with my gold coins…” And they keep going like this until—just like that—they drop dead. What happened? “The man passed away.” That’s it. It’s over. (Mr. Dezhakam laughs.)
A lot of people get caught in this. Many, actually. Of course, some truly have nothing—not even enough bread to eat. That’s a different matter. But many others are simply out of balance. Some have plenty, but they still can’t stop. For them it’s only about the number—just the digits. As the saying goes: “For the one who is leaving this world, what difference is there between a stone and pure gold?”
What matters is that a person understands their own situation—that they recognize what they have and make full use of it, so they can actually enjoy life. They should ask themselves: “How old am I? What do I really need?” Even if I lived seven hundred years, I’d still have money, still have property, still have all these things. Then what? What am I trying to do?
These are the points we need to learn.
Here are a few more points I want to mention. First, the photos that appear on the “Forty CD,” the “Thirty CD,” the blue liberation forms, and the smoking-cessation forms—none of these require any kind of stamp. There is absolutely no need for a stamp on any of them. The only place where a stamp is ever used, if necessary, is in the examinations department—for example, on covenant forms—but that is done by us ourselves.
So, none of the photos used for smoking liberation, the Forty CD, the Thirty CD, or the follow-up forms need a stamp at all. When a form gets stamped, it becomes a legal document, and then it creates unnecessary trouble: the person has to look for the Marzban so he can stamp it; the Marzban says the stamp is with the agent; the agent is not here; the stamp is in the cabinet; the cabinet is in the safe; the safe key is with another person… and so on.
That is why we simply do not stamp any of these photos or forms. The Forty CD and Thirty CD forms do not need the agent’s stamp, nor the Marzban’s. The guide signs the Forty CD form, brings it here, and our Forty CD department approves it—that’s it, the job is done.
As for the blue forms, in the past, when we used to sign them and hand them directly to individuals, they would forget to go and register them. Now we no longer give the forms to the individuals themselves. We give them to someone responsible, who takes them to the registration office. Then, the members receive their blue forms from the registration department once the process is completed.
Well, there is another point. This week is the “Educational CD Week,” which is perhaps one of the most important pillars of our entire educational system. Congress 60 truly stands on these weekly educational CDs. Members transcribe the Forty CDs in sequence, then the Thirty CDs, and through this process, they receive the education they need. In fact, it is through these CD-based lessons that the whole structure of Congress 60 has become unified—consistent, coordinated, and aligned.
The same material that is taught here in Tehran is being received in Bushehr, in the Persian Gulf region, in Tabriz, and in the islands of Qeshm and Kish. And we are really pleased that technology has supported us in this. On Saturday mornings, as soon as the CD is uploaded, within seconds it becomes available throughout Iran and across the world.
Through these CDs, we have been able to establish the order we needed, and through them we have been able to deliver the essential education. When someone transcribes a CD, the act itself provides the highest form of meditation and the deepest sense of calm. A person who regularly transcribes CDs never develops Alzheimer’s or memory loss. Their memory becomes incredibly strong.
I don’t know what the rate of book reading is in our country, but I think we can almost say we don’t really have book-readers at all. When a book is published, they print two hundred or three hundred copies at most. And even those two hundred copies are mostly handed out to relatives, friends, acquaintances—this person gives to that person, that one gives to someone else—and still, nobody reads the book.
But you, every single week, are reading a whole book. In fact, you’re not just reading a book—you’re writing one. You gain comprehensive knowledge. And through this comprehensive understanding, we learn how to move in life. Because we must learn the art of living. How do we learn it? We must learn it in a practical way, through real application, so that we can reach that peace and comfort we are seeking.
And it is through these CDs that gradually we have reached a point where cigarettes have vanished from Congress 60. There is no smoking in Congress 60 anymore—none at all. Through these CDs and the education they provided, we slowly reached a stage where those who struggled with excess weight have been able to bring their weight into complete balance. Their behavior is changing; their way of dressing is changing. They wear clean, neat clothing; they observe and uphold the principles and the proper decorum. And many other things as well. All of this has happened through our educational system.
Now, when members are transcribing the Forty CDs or the Thirty CDs, they must not neglect the weekly CD. Yes, you are writing your Thirty CDs, but every week you must listen to your educational CD. In the past, this used to be extremely difficult, but now it has become very easy.
We can say that the educational CDs act like a thread of prayer beads that connects all branches of Congress 60 and all its members together. And we are very happy that technology has fully supported us in this, and we are making the most of it.
As for the rest of the matters, I’ll keep my remarks short so the members can participate and share what they do. We still call this a “CD,” even though technically it’s no longer a CD. It’s a wrong term that has simply stayed with us—listening to the CD. Because now we have the app and virtual platforms, but still, we use the word CD the same as before.
Since this week is the Week of the Money Donation, we usually do not apply the Eleventh Law during this week. What does the law say? Ah, yes—normally it is not carried out. So, that’s good news: today the Eleventh Law will not be implemented. Very well. I’ve spoken enough. I’ll leave the rest for the members to participate and share their thoughts. Thank you for listening to me.
One important point regarding the CDs: when a person speaks, they naturally have a specific audience in mind and they know whom they’re addressing. But in Congress 60, the audience listening to these CDs ranges from someone who cannot read or write at all—or has only an elementary education—up to someone with a PhD in philosophy, theology, literature, or similar fields. The CDs speak to everyone at the same time.
So, when you listen to a CD, you may come across something that feels strange to you. That doesn’t matter; simply move past it. For example, suddenly the CD may bring up the subject of Nafs and Ruh—the self and the spirit. This is a very complex topic, and it’s the first time the CDs open such a discussion. It says that the self and the Ruh are different, meaning it introduces a topic that has no precedent in the history of Persian literature, and even in Arabic literature, these two have never been clearly separated as completely distinct entities. So you see, at times the discussion rises to that level. But someone who is listening may have never even heard the word self before and may think, “What difference does it make? What does this have to do with me?”
Therefore, the audience is diverse. This is why the CDs are useful for everyone. Maybe one or two sentences in a CD won’t sit well with someone, but the rest of the content is entirely understandable and practical. So don’t think that when you’re listening to a CD, you must understand every single point in it. In some parts you understand fully; in other parts you only grasp a portion; and some parts may feel unfamiliar. You simply need to be patient—because in time, we will certainly come to understand those sections as well.
Now, since this week is the Week of the Money Donation, I want to finish the session a little earlier today.
In Congress 60, when someone is speaking, we never interrupt their sharing. In other places, people clap in the middle of someone’s talk or make noise, but we don’t do that. We wait. Remember, one “goat” can excite the whole herd—so if one person starts clapping, don’t follow them! (Mr. Dezhakam laughs.)
Typed by: Fatemeh Kh. Salman Farsi Branch
Translated by: Companion Marjan
11/22/2025
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