What Is True Sincerity?
The fifth session of the 44th term of Congress 60’s Public Educational Workshops was held on Saturday, May 17, 2025, at 4:30 PM. The session was led by respected Watchman Mr. Amin Dezhakam, Deputy of the Base of Congress 60, with Agent and Guide Traveler Saeed serving as the session guardian and Traveler Adib as the interim secretary. The topic of the session was: “What Have I Done to Strengthen the Financial and Scientific Foundations of Congress 60?”
Summary of the Speaker’s Remarks
I thank God for giving me the opportunity to be here among you at the Louis Pasteur Branch. I hope you are all doing well, and that everyone in the First Journey has a good experience throughout the treatment process. I also hope that those in the Second Journey and the Companions achieve success in their lives.
Depending on the circumstances and what is needed, I always try to talk about practical subjects and issues that I myself am also dealing with. We have always placed great value on education, and we know that one of the main conditions for learning is putting our arrogance aside.
For example, one of the signs of arrogance is that when we enter a classroom, we have to leave everything we already know outside the door if we want to succeed. If you come to Congress 60, set aside everything you think you already know about addiction treatment. No matter how much expertise you have, no matter how much of an expert you consider yourself to be, and regardless of whatever position or status you hold, put it all aside and come to Congress 60 so that you can achieve the desired result.
Doing this is not easy, because I myself did not do it for many years. Whenever I attended a class, I would bring my whole backpack of knowledge with me and put it on the chair beside me. As a result, I gained nothing. Even after spending so much time and energy, I would ultimately fail to achieve what I was looking for.
As a person gradually learns deeper concepts, they begin to realize how easily they can make mistakes; how knowledgeable humble people can be, and how much further ahead and more successful they are.
If we listen to the words of some of the greats, we realize how accurately they have expressed this:
“Learn humility if you seek grace;
the ground that stands high never drinks the water.”
It doesn't even say “sometimes.” It says “never”—meaning never, not even once, not until the end of time.
If you want to gain something, whether you want to become a teacher or a scientist, or even if what you seek is health, it makes no difference. Receiving blessings applies to health as well. It applies to many things—money, knowledge, and everything else.
We have to become humble so that the “water” can reach us. When we lower our heads, we become like a hollow or a pit, and whatever water there is flows into that pit. Even if we are in the middle of a desert, that pit will eventually fill with water.
There are two places that always have water: pits and mountains. They are always full of water, even in some of the harshest and driest regions of the world.
I had thought about mountains, but I had never thought about pits. The more a person moves toward darkness and blackness, the more they have essentially become a pit. But this only helps if the person realizes that they have become a pit. Some people cannot even recognize that they have turned into one. In addiction, too, a person who is using substances is often the last person to realize that they have become addicted.
If a person who is using substances realizes that they have become addicted and that they have an addiction, they begin to fill up. All they need to do is realize that they are a substance user and that they don't know anything.
I was accepted into a doctoral program when I realized that I actually knew nothing. Once I understood this, I was accepted into the doctoral program the following year. I had been trying for several years, but I wasn't getting anywhere.
A person puts a board over the opening of their own pit, preventing the water from entering. Otherwise, the universe and existence naturally give to us and continue to give.
This is a great lesson. Anyone who can understand it will begin to experience abundance flowing toward them from places they could never have imagined. As soon as you realize that you are in need, help will come to you.
Arrogance does not allow existence to give anything to us.
Now, regarding the subject of service at Congress 60:
First, we have to leave everything we think we know outside the door and learn humility.
Of course, humility can also be interpreted from the standpoint of weakness and can lead to flattery. But that is not what we mean by humility, and we don't concern ourselves with that interpretation. In fact, lowering your head out of flattery is itself a form of arrogance. Some people flatter others simply to get things done or achieve results more quickly, but that does not come from sincerity of heart or intention.
You have to understand, from the depths of your heart and your being, that you don't know. This desire to learn must genuinely exist within the person.
When it comes to service, we must leave all our pain behind the door.
In education, we leave everything we think we know outside the door. But in service, we must also set aside all our emotions—our pain, the problems in our lives, our unresolved issues, our frustrations, our resentments—all of them.
It was difficult enough to set aside everything we knew in education so that we could truly become students. In the same way, it is just as difficult to attend a Legion and serve despite all the hardships we may be facing in life.
We may cry alone in our room, yet still show up at the Legion and serve. We may be under financial pressure. But no Guide should ever allow their Traveler to notice even the slightest problem or distress they may be experiencing.
If we can do these things, we can attain “true sincerity.” At that point, our service will become the best kind of service there is.
It doesn't matter what position you are serving in. Wherever you are, add the highest possible quality to what you do. When we serve, it allows inspiration, insight, and the divine word to flow into our being.
In a Legion, things are sometimes said that would never be said when a person is alone. If we can keep our emotions and feelings separate from the service we are performing—for example, if you are a Borderguard and someone violates a rule, you should not seek revenge against that person. Simply enforce the law. When you do that, the decision you make can lead to beautiful and positive outcomes.
We need to learn how to truly receive education. Intelligence, talent, and potential are all among the least important things. The fundamental point is that you should be aware and understand that you don't know anything.
The main point is not to bring your personal problems into your service.
If you are a teacher and you are teaching a class, you should teach until the very end, even if you are not being paid. Either don't take the job, or stay and do it properly. Either don't accept the amount being offered, or, if you accept it, you must provide the service properly.
You shouldn't provide less than what you promised simply because the rent on your shop is high. If we look at it correctly, you should not bring your personal problems into the work you are doing.
If, instead of serving properly, we become involved in getting even, then we are exactly committing “betrayal.”
These are precisely the things we need to pay attention to. The same applies to both teaching and learning. It is precisely the work of the negative and obstructive force to introduce arrogance into the educational process so that you cannot properly receive the education.
Very often, there are people who are not grateful for the efforts that have been made for them or the education they have received, and they don't remember them, because it is not in their interest.
They feel that they don't owe anyone anything, and this causes them to forget the efforts that others have made for them.
One reason people don't remember what others have done for them is that, God forbid, they might somehow end up “indebted.”
Congress 60 saved us from the incurable disease of addiction and gave us our lives back. But what have we done in return to show our gratitude?
Nothing!
So, what should we do now?
We should take the Assistant Guide examination and serve. But if we say, “No, Congress 60 has done nothing for us,” and make its work seem insignificant, then we turn the service into something we feel no obligation toward. When we convince ourselves that Congress 60 has done nothing for us, we naturally no longer feel that we should do anything for Congress 60 in return.
These are the kinds of things people sometimes tell themselves in order to take themselves away from the true and proper path. Gratitude does not harm a person. If someone realizes that a system has served them and saved them from darkness, then they, too, should help other people emerge from that darkness. In this way, both they themselves and others can move out of darkness, and life will become brighter and more blessed.
Once we understand this, we will never diminish or consider insignificant the service that others have provided to us.
If I were to summarize everything, let's put education, position, and service aside for a moment. First and foremost, let us learn humility, modesty, and groundedness.
For service to have a positive effect on us, we must not bring our problems into it. No excuse will be acceptable. This is exactly what we need to learn.
Whatever position we are serving in, we must either serve properly without allowing our personal problems to interfere, or, if we cannot do so, we must honestly say that we are unable to serve properly. What matters is that whatever we do, we do it properly.
It is the work of the negative force to create fear and pressure and prevent us from doing things properly. This causes the blessings to leave our work. The negative force uses people's fears to interfere with their work and push them toward “anti-values.”
A person must always remain vigilant so that the doors of heaven do not close. If a person violates the “commandments” in the things they do, the doors of heaven will close to them, and the blessings will leave them.
Everyone knows their own capabilities. Treat others the way you would like to be treated. Whatever you wish for yourself, wish for others as well.
Do not exaggerate your own accomplishments, and do not belittle the work of others.
I hope you are successful, and I thank you all for listening to me.
Translated by: Traveler Arash, Artesh Branch of Congress 60, Tehran
