The eleventh session of the eighty-sixth series of Congress 60 workshops, held for travelers and companions, was conducted at 9:25 a.m., on Wednesday, December, 17, 2025, with Mr. Hossein Dezhakam as the master of the ceremony and guardian, and Traveler Farshad as the secretary, with the agenda “The Eleventh Valley: The roaring rivers and rushing springs will ultimately reach the sea and ocean.”
Hello friends, I am Hossein, a traveler. I hope all of you are doing well. Thank God, I am also well. Today is 26 Azar 1404, December, 17, 2025, and the time is 24 minutes to 10 in the morning. We are in the Simorgh Building in Tehran. The weather, thanks to God, is very, very good. God’s merciful rain has begun to fall in many cities [of Iran], and it has even been so heavy in some areas that flooding has occurred. It is predicted that in various cities, at least in four provinces, there will be very heavy rainfall and substantial snowfall. All of this brings joy, as it means we have been blessed by God’s grace and are being saved from drought and water shortages.
Well, before anything else, I will read the report of the Dideban’s (Watcher’s) session.
The seventh Dideban’s session of the year 1404 was held on Monday, the day before yesterday, 15, December, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. in the Simorgh Building, with Dezhakam as the guardian and Ali Khodami as the secretary. The topics that were discussed, reviewed, and approved in this session are as follows:
1. With the exception of Taleghani Park in Tehran, the publications section will be removed from all Congress 60 sports parks, as there is no longer a need for publications in sports parks. From now on, publications will not be available in sports parks. Anyone who needs publications should obtain them from their own branch. Only Taleghani Park will continue to have publications.
2. All Didebans are required, before traveling to visit Congress 60 branches, to inform the Congress 60 guardian—Mr. Hossen Dezhakam— or the secretary of the Dideban’s Congress —Mr. Ali Khoddami—of their travel and visitation plans. Any Dideban who intends to travel to another city must definitely provide prior notice.
3. In Congress 60, the female Travelers section, located in the Rose Building, is designated as the Center for Editing and Organizing Congress 60 Texts. This center is responsible for organizing and making necessary revisions to Congress 60 writings. All texts and forms must be reviewed and approved by this center. Since the number of Congress 60 members has grown significantly and many written materials may be distributed among members, shared with branches, or proposed by Didebans, it is essential that all such materials be approved through a single central authority.
4. The selection of all Congress 60 guides—including DST guides, Newcomer guides, Cigarette guides, and Jones (weight-loss) guides—will take place through a nationwide examination in Shahrivar 1405. In that examination, candidates will be selected as guides for DST, Newcomers, Cigarettes, or Jones, and they will specify which guiding path they intend to pursue.
5. Based on the decision of the Base of Congress 60, Mr. Hossein Dezhakam, and with the approval of the Congress of Didebans, the Shahr-e Rey branch in Tehran has been officially named “Kourosh Azarpour Branch.” As previously announced, this naming has been confirmed and approved.
6. By the decision of the Base of Congress 60 and the Didebans, the Congress of Male Companions was transferred to the Molayeripour Building. The number of Companions is gradually increasing and growing in size. We have a building on Molayeripour Street—a small office space of about 60 to 80 square meters—which has been allocated to the male Companions so that they can have their own independent building. In the Congress of Male Companions, just as in the Congress of Female Companions, the management of different sections is entrusted to individuals who are appointed as Dideban’s Assistants. We already have Dideban’s Assistants among female companions and among female travelers, and we can apply the same principle among male companions as well.
7. In Tehran and other cities, for swimming pools used by Congress 60 members, the entrance fee must be paid directly by the individual to the pool’s card reader. Responsibility for swimming pool programs lies with the Congress 60 Sports Council. The number of swimming pools has increased, and this is not a situation where we rent a pool for a fixed amount and then collect money from members. We do not engage in such arrangements at all, because we do not want financial exchanges that could lead to problems or misunderstandings. Wherever a pool is used, the fee must be paid directly to the pool management. All swimming-related sports programs are under the authority of the Sports Council.
8. The Congress 60 portal should, as much as possible, be simplified and concise. The portal we intend to establish for Congress 60 must be very, very simple. It is not necessary to upload all documents, records, and details into the portal. Rather, only simple and highly important matters related to statistics should be included. Mr. Khodami, as the Watchman of Research and the Secretary of the Council of Guardians, is responsible for overseeing this process to ensure maximum simplification.
9. Regarding the Message of the Second Journey—as previously announced—this message in Congress 60 educational workshops is to be read by the Agent, and in the absence of the Agent, by the duty Border Guard. In public sessions, it is read alternately: one week by the Agent of the Family group and the next week by the Agent of the Travelers group. Previously, the Message of the Second Journey was read by the Congress 60 Guardian or the Watchmen, but now this responsibility lies with the Agent and the Border Guard.
10. From now on, in all Congress 60 branches, guides who have handed over their own legions may participate in a legion called “Ra’ad Legion.” Some guides have completed their term and handed over their legions; afterward, they come to the branch and may feel somewhat unassigned. For this purpose, the Ra’ad Legion has been established exclusively for guides who have handed over their legions, whether companions or travelers. In this legion, the Agent manages the sessions for 14 meetings, then, those members who want to be the Legion’s guide will announce and one of the [ballot] papers is drawn by chance, and for each 14-session period, this person is selected as the guide of the Ra’ad Legion. Since guides represent our highest level of accumulated knowledge, we can select Agents, assistants, and aides for the branch from among these legions. For now, the sessions are held once a week, and they may attend the branch twice a week. The guide of this legion serves as the legion’s guide for 14 sessions, and after that, every 14 weeks, one member is chosen through drawing to serve in this position. This has now been clarified.
11. This legion (Ra’ad Legion) is held once a week in private sessions. Members are required to transcribe the weekly CD and participate in discussion and dialogue about that week’s CD. In the Ra’ad Legion, which is specifically for guides, only the weekly CD is written and then discussed and reviewed.
12. In Congress 60 conferences and gatherings, such as the Guides’ Conference, lunch for participants is prepared and cooked by the host branch, and the cost is paid by the Financial Affairs Department. For example, when guides or border guards gather in a city like Isfahan for a meeting—coming from different cities and arriving around 9 or 10 a.m., with sessions lasting until 1, 2, or even 4 or 5 p.m.—it has been decided to provide lunch for them. However, the food must be cooked by Congress 60 members. No one may say, “I will sponsor it” or “I will support it” by ordering food from outside, such as kebab and rice. We have kitchen facilities and cooking equipment, and we know how to prepare food ourselves. The food is prepared internally, and the cost is covered by Congress 60 Financial Affairs.
13. Upon the proposal of the OT Dideban, Mr. Babak Lotfi, and with the approval of the Congress of Didebans, Mr. Behnam Nouri from Arak was selected as the Assistant to the OT Dideban, and his Shawl will be presented to him at a later time.
14. Upon the proposal of the Didebans of Sports Parks and with the approval of the Congress of Didebans, Traveler Shahroud Bahrami from the Ahvaz branch was selected as Assistant to the Dideban, Mr. Ashkazari.
15. Upon the proposal of the Base of Congress 60 and Ms. Kamandar, and with the approval of all Didebans, Mrs. Shohreh Azarpour was selected as a Dideban in the Congress 60 of Companions.
Didebans present at the session: Amin Dezhakam, Ms. Kamandar, Ms. Haji Mir, Mr. Ali Ashkazari, Babak, Mehdi, Ali Majdian, Reza, Mehdi Seddighi, Mohammad Sadegh, Alireza, Asghar, Ahmad, Majid, Javad, Abdollah, and Ali.
With respect,
Secretary of the Meeting, Mr. Ali Khoddami
Thank you.
The point is that female companions are just as capable as travelers; however, the Didebans Council session was entirely male, and women had no place in it. There was only one woman present, and that was Ani Dezhakam [Mr. Dezhakam and Mrs. Annie’s daughter]. Therefore, it was decided that more women, both from female travelers and female companions, should be included in the Didebans’ Council. Likewise, in the near future, a Dideban will be selected for the companions, after certain stages are completed. For this reason, Mrs. Shohreh Azarpour was selected as a Dideban for the Companion group. At present, the Companions’ group has two Watchmen on the Council, and female travelers have one, which God willing, the number of Didebans for female travelers may increase to two in the future, and these Didebans will come to the Dideban’s council meetings .
This was the report related to the Dideban’s Council, which I presented to you.
Ms. Sheida, the Companion’s Assistant had also given me a report—but unfortunately, I left it in my office. She needs to bring it and give it to me in a session. She gave it to me in the office, and I left it there. God willing, I will read it next time and explain what it was about. In any case, thank you very much. I truly appreciate it.
Today’s agenda is The Eleventh Valley, but today we are honored to host the artists from Mashhad, and we know that the Congress 60 music group is very active and very strong. It exists in Isfahan, in Mashhad—where it is especially strong—and also in Tehran. Because the conditions are not ideal right now, we cannot hold many concerts, but the music group must continue to hold its concerts regularly. Fortunately, the concerts organized by Congress 60 are internal concerts, intended for members, and we strive to observe all standards.
In any case, I warmly welcome the Mashhad orchestra members. They have traveled a long way—they set out last night and arrived here during the night. This involves many hardships and difficulties. One good step they took—which I also mentioned last time—is that when performing their pieces, they prepared pamphlets and distributed the lyrics of the songs among the members, so that everyone can read along. Because when songs are sung chorally, sometimes the lyrics are not clearly distinguishable. I had suggested that the lyrics either be written out or displayed clearly on a board, and fortunately they did exactly that and prepared the pamphlets for today’s performance.
Now, the agenda states: “The roaring rivers and rushing springs will ultimately reach the sea and ocean.” A spring must first begin to roar on its own, and for that to happen, it must have a source. What must that source contain? Water. How much? A great deal. Then it must find a path for eruption, a way to emerge from the spring. If it does not emerge, it is still not usable. When a spring is strong, it becomes roaring and bubbling.
Then it must move. When it moves, it becomes a roaring river. A roaring river means a powerful river—one that moves from its source, passes through all the ups and downs, and eventually reaches the sea and the ocean. Take the Mississippi River as an example: it starts from its source, gradually passes through countless waterfalls and passages, and finally reaches the sea and the ocean.
Nowadays, however, rushing and rushing rivers are being blocked everywhere; dams have been built in many places, stopping their flow. In Iran as well, we have rivers like the Karun and the Zayandeh Rud. The Zayandeh Rud was once a rushing river, but it has now changed into something else. God willing, with the plans we have, and with the snowfall and rainfall we are receiving, we will be saved from water scarcity. With these rains and snows, surface and underground water resources will gradually be strengthened, and then we must learn the culture of proper consumption so that we can reach real results.
When a river is rushing, it passes over every mountain, dam, plain, and rock. When it encounters a rock, a mountain, or a hill, it does not stop and say, “The way is blocked; I can’t go on anymore.” This is a metaphor for human beings. Generally speaking, as we humans are encountered with a problem, we say, “That’s it, it’s a [persistent] problem. I didn’t pass the university entrance exam—forget it. I wasn’t successful in this job—forget it. I couldn’t get liberated from addiction—forget it.”
No! A rushing river either pushes the obstacle aside or flows around it. If the stone [problem] is small, it rolls it away and removes it from its path; and if it is very, very large, it goes around it, bends its course, and continues from another direction.
We must become roaring springs and rushing rivers. To become a rushing river, we must have resources and information. What is our resource? Our resource must be knowledge—but real knowledge. What does real knowledge mean? It means knowledge that can be verified, knowledge that can prove itself. The true honor of knowledge lies in its practice. It is knowledge that gives us answers [to the unsolved problems].
Does the knowledge that exists in the field of addiction really give us answers? The knowledge about addiction is true, only and only if it cures an addict and bring them to real and complete recovery. If we can lead someone to full recovery, then we say yes, this knowledge works; but if we cannot reach complete recovery, then it no longer gives an answer.
With the current knowledge, I mean using buprenorphine or methadone, have we been able to bring even one person to complete recovery? By complete recovery, I do not mean maintenance, where the drug must be given continuously. In this sense, the world has not reached the knowledge of treatment; they have only reached maintenance, and then they must constantly watch over the person, like a small child. Since a small child’s wisdom and reasoning power is not yet fully developed, it is constantly warned: don’t go to the balcony, don’t go near the window, don’t go to the yard, lock the door, stay inside, don’t go into the street. The child must be restricted from everything because their wisdom has not reached maturity and it can be dangerous. Now apply the same logic to a drug abuser: they ask a drug abuser not to leave the house, not to sit with their friends, to change their playground, change the game ball, change their companions, not to go to those places, not to see drugs, to cut off their old friends. It is exactly the same as with a small child—don’t do this, don’t do that, this is bad, that is wrong, and so on. In this way and within this method, we have to keep drug abuser away from everything because it may be dangerous. A man of fifty or sixty who has quit heroin still does not have full mental balance; the moment he sees heroin, or even when his eyes fall on drugs, his craving flares up immediately [in Persian, we say, a pregnant woman who sees water and oil—fresh home-made traditional butter—and in order to eat this nutrient-dense butter, she feels labor pain]. That is why we claim the world has not yet reached a real answer or solution to the problem of addiction.
That is why we claim this knowledge and awareness are not sufficient when they change the one drug for another, for instance, a person up to now has used Opium Tincture (OT), and the doctor says now let’s give him B2 instead of OT, or let’s give him methadone instead of OT. Does methadone really give him the answer? [does methadone help him cure his addiction?] Can methadone, which is only one substance, replace morphine, codeine, narcotine, narceine, papaverine, codamine, thebaine, protopine, and dozens of other alkaloids present in opium? Does methadone answer that? Does methadone answer B2? Methadone is good, and B2 is also good, but each in its proper place. To control a heroin user, methadone can be very, very effective, but for some patients here, does it really work or not? It does not. In my view, it is exactly like saying someone has a heart problem and we respond, no problem, for now just give him brain medicine and see what happens later. It doesn’t work; brain medicine cannot replace heart medicine. Some officials [in the scarcity of opium] suggested replacing OT with B2 or methadone; however, [they did not know that] it simply does not work. I ask the officials to only bring us one person and show that this individual has truly recovered using these methods. Of course, fortunately, the Drug Control Headquarters is pursuing this issue [opium scarcity] seriously and with full capacity, and the officials of the Ministry of Health are working day and night to compensate and correct the situation. At the moment, they have no other option. When they see that OT is not available, they believe that in the desert, even an old shoe is a blessing [this is an old Persian idiom, which means that in the time of scarcity, we must be grateful for even a very simple thing], so for now use these things until we see what happens next. God willing, this issue will also be completely resolved.
So what we were saying is that if we are a roaring river, we must move past everything. Along our path there may be many obstacles, but we cannot give up. We cannot stop and say, for instance, since OT is not available, so we quit our recovery and go do something else. No. We must go around it, we must keep moving, and God willing the issue will be completely resolved. Fortunately, all the clinics are cooperating with us; we have spoken with the Drug Control headquarters and they are following it up as well. Everyone is cooperating, and God willing this problem will be resolved properly. By now, to a large extent, it has fortunately been resolved. At first there were many problems, but now they have significantly decreased. Guides should not panic, but they should also not interfere. A guide should not immediately try to find OT for their pupil, or go and get bottles of OT and give them to their pupils. No, under no circumstances should the guides interfere in these matters. The individuals themselves will find it. What were they doing until now? It is not a difficult task. Someone who used heroin for twenty years—where did he get heroin from? It is not difficult for him now to find OT. Someone who used opium or opium sap for twenty or thirty years—finding OT is not hard at all. So this is not difficult for us. It may be difficult for people outside, but for us who were [drug] users, it is not difficult at all. God willing, this issue will also be resolved.
There was also the issue of the Base of Congress 60, which we talked about last week. Today as well, the Mashhad orchestra group has come here for this very reason. As I said last time, the celebration of the Base of Congress 60 is not my own birthday; it is the birthday of all of us—both companions and travelers. It was a beginning from which, up to now, tens of thousands of people—truly tens of thousands—have reached recovery. According to the documented statistics we have in Congress 60, more than one hundred thousand people, over the course of 28 years—not one year, not two years, but over 28 years since Congress 60 began— one hundred thousand people have achieved complete recovery. And with whose efforts? With the presence, effort, and hard work of more than two or three thousand guides, and more than two or three thousand guides who worked; in fact, all the people working in Congress 60, all of whom work voluntarily, probably number more than five or six thousand, and even beyond that. We have close to two hundred thousand registered members with identification cards. When we say one hundred thousand have been liberated from addiction, we have documentation and solid evidence. Many years ago, in one council meeting attended by many officials and specialists, an organization’s speaker claimed, “Last year we provided addiction-prevention training to 400,000 people.” May God bless late Dr. Haj Rasouli, who replied, “Madam, if you wanted to move 400,000 goats from one side of the street to the other, you would not be able to do it in one year. How did you train 400,000 people in prevention?”
For example, sometimes someone people claim that they had treated about one or two thousand hundred people [in one year], however, we have cured more than 100000 people in 28 years. If these recoveries had happened within 10 years, then we had about 10000 cured individuals in one year. If this number of recoveries had occurred in 20 years, then the number of liberated individuals per year would about 5000 individuals. However, in 30 years of [our] working, about 3000 to 4000 individuals have been liberated from addiction annually and within these years about 80 to 90 percent of them are healthy and they feel no craving towards drugs. Therefore, celebration of the Base of Congress 60 is for all of us and we celebrate this occasion and we are happy. On this occasion, we talk about those people who served in Congress 60 and about those who are [sincerely] serving right now. Because currently we have some Didebans, both women and men, who travel about three, four or five thousand kilometers a week with their own car or by train or plane, they serve in different branches of Congress 60, and they are working for free, without being paid even one Rial [the smallest amount of money].
However, some individuals as they come from another city, say “I came from Qazvin, I came from far away,” and I think, what are you saying? Honestly, the Didebans—some women, some men—travel three to four thousand kilometers a week, sometimes even more, back and forth. You have come [only] 100 kilometers, for the sake of your own liberation from addiction, that’s no problem at all. So this matter is very significant, and I sincerely congratulate all of you on this week. Talk about this agenda so people understand that it wasn’t always like this [we had many hardships]; now we are comfortably sitting in this building, which belongs to us, and this was made possible with your own efforts.
I’ll keep my speech short because we also have the “Mashhad orchestra” here. I ask them, if they are ready, to come and begin their performance. Let’s give them a round of applause as usual. Where are they? Are they present? Mr. Hamid Rikhtegarn, please, Mr. Hamid. Are you Reza? Did you change your name? (laughs) Ah, your name is Vahid, right. You have a maximum of thirty minutes. We gave Isfahan twenty minutes, so you get thirty. Reza, explain fully which pieces you want to perform.
Mr. Amin Dezhakam: Hello friends, Amin here, a traveler. I congratulate Mr. [Hossein] Dezhakam and all the members of Congress 60 and my family on the Base of Congress 60’s Week, as well as the members of the Mashhad orchestra. They have been active for about six or seven years—maybe eight years now—working in music through the Mashhad branches. We shared our experiences, which we have developed in Tehran since around 2015—about ten years ago—and tried to make our teaching methods consistent and follow the same principles, focusing on education. Many of the dear members of the orchestra here had no prior knowledge of music, but they came and began learning rhythm, reading musical notes, the fundamentals of music, and our philosophy is that we must increase our literacy in music so that we can perform more advanced and prominent pieces effectively. Now, even those who joined the Mashhad Music Legion without knowing note reading or rhythm are learning and mastering these skills. We train our music teachers and guides from Mashhad branches members so that they can eventually teach others. I hope they succeed. The pieces you will see were carefully prepared and written on pamphlets so that you can follow the lyrics. One important point is that sometimes when a piece is performed, we may not be able to recognize the lyrics, so they prepared this pamphlet to allow you to read the words and create a better connection with the music.
I wanted to give a brief explanation about the piece “Ey Gol” [Oh, You Flower]. Back when Mr. Hossein Dezhakam discovered the DST method and was in the process of curing his addiction, we used to listen to this song and really enjoyed it. I thought it would be nice to remember that time. The lyrics of “Ey Gol, you were the beauty of this garden,” relate to the time before addiction, and now, even though you are in darkness, you must return to your former strength and vitality. We decided this piece would also be a surprise to Mr. Hossein Dezhakam, that is why the orchestra members worked hard on it. Thank you.
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After listening to the pieces by the Mashhad Orchestra, Mr. Hossein Dezhakam added: Thank you very much. Compared to last year, you were much stronger and more cohesive. The arrangements were excellent, and I truly congratulate you—it shows that you worked correctly. The pieces you selected were very thoughtful and excellent. I am really grateful and very happy that the Mashhad orchestra has reached this level of skill. God willing, in the coming years, you will become even stronger, and I hope we will have the opportunity to use a live orchestra more often at various celebrations. In any case, I am very happy and thank all of you. Let’s give them a round of applause in their honor. Thank you. I also want to thank Amin, and God willing, please continue to support the Mashhad orchestra.
Translated by Elahe