Staying Curious, with Andrew Purchin

Welcome to the first episode of our new podcast series, “Voices of Love: Bridging differences through compassionate conversations,” This project is a collaboration between Greg Morris, Mathew Divaris and Tenzin Chogkyi.

We begin our series with local Santa Cruz artist Andrew Purchin.

Tenzin was introduced to Andrew several years ago by a mutual friend, and felt inspired by his ongoing project, “The Curious Scroll.” When the opportunity arose to organize the “Let’s Talk About It” event which focused on conversations to bridge divides and reduce judgement and stereotypes, Andrew’s projects were a perfect fit, and we invited him to be part of those events, held in Santa Cruz in 2022 and 2023. Tenzin also attended the multimedia event he organized for his “What’s Home” project, looking at the impacts of homelessness on those who experience it, and on our community.

Andrew’s use of art along with listening deeply to bridge divides is unique and inspiring, and we couldn’t think of anyone better to launch our “Voices of Love” podcast. Greg and Tenzin sat down with Andrew in his studio to paint together and have this conversation, which was recorded on September 16, 2025. Some of the events informing this conversation were the recent murder of Charlie Kirk, the conservative Evangelical Christian influencer, and an event that Andrew and Tenzin had attended the night before this conversation with a Palestinian and Israeli peace activist, Nitsan Joy Gordon and Jawdat Kasab. This event was organized by Rabbi Paula Marcus and was called Healing Across Divides, a perfect compliment to our later conversation in Andrew’s studio, and one we refer to frequently.

We began our time together with a short ritual and with making art together, before shifting to a more directed conversation

A fuller biography and some links to Andrew’s projects can be found below. We hope you enjoy this episode.

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Andrew Purchin is a citizen artist whose practice is rooted in mixed media art, dance improvisation, film and psychotherapy. He graduated with a B.A in his own major, “The Arts and Social Action” from UC Santa Cruz in 1985 and a Masters Degree in Social Work from San Francisco State University in 1990.  With his Creative Listening Project, Purchin paints, listens and encourages creativity at sites where there can be grief, discord and celebration.  A  creative listening internet friendship led Purchin to travel Pakistan to create and exhibit  "Encounters on the Frontier” with artist Mohsin Shafi at the National College of Arts in Pakistan in 2014 and for Shafi to join Purchin to create and exhibit “Upsidedownland” at the Radius Gallery in Santa Cruz in 2015.

Purchin collaborated with the public as they marked on The Curious Scroll at the Republican and Democratic National Conventions in 2016 and in Santa Cruz County before the 2018 election.  Purchin received the 2020 Ron Kovic Peace Prize for his short documentary, The Curious Scroll.  Purchin is a 2022 recipient of a Santa Cruz City Arts Recovery and Design Grant for his social practice and documentary project about our housing crisis, “What’s Home? Creative Listening Across Differences.”  This project also garnered a grant from the Awesome Foundation of Santa Cruz in 2023.

 Links to Andrew’s projects:

https://www.andrewpurchin.com/

https://www.youtube.com/aPurchin

https://www.instagram.com/apurchin/

Voices of Love: Bridging differences through compassionate conversations

We are living in time in which communities and nations are deeply fragmented along lines of political affiliation and ideology, race, class, religion, immigration status, and more. For the last few years, it seems that the divides are so sharply defined that it is impossible to work together and there have been very few attempts to find common ground. Is this the way it needs to be, with conflicting sides, winners and losers in a zero-sum game, or is there another way forward? 

When we perceive others’ beliefs and opinions to differ from our own, it can be challenging to listen and be curious about why they believe what they do. Yet when we are able to truly hear each other, we can begin to see our common humanity and discover shared needs and values. But how do we do this? What are some of the perspectives and strategies we can use to bridge differences and connect with our common humanity? How can we overcome our resistance to extending compassion to others, especially those we think of as threats or as enemies? What are the limits to bridging differences and extending compassion, and are there times we shouldn’t even try?

In our experience and in the research on conflict and peace building, it seems clear that a collective capacity to bridge these divides is the only viable path to a sustainable future for humankind. Our point of view is that recognizing and trusting in our common humanity as the basis for connection is the only way forward, and is the essence of empathy, compassion, and  love. 

The “Voices of Love” podcast will explore this possibility, delving into the experience and science behind broadening our compassion and bridging differences, even when common ground seems hard to find. Our hope is by sharing the stories of people involved in bridging even when it is challenging, we will inspire others to reach out to those who they might think of as “other” and to be more willing to engage when such “others” reach out to them, to question their assumptions and stereotypes and open to experiences of connection.

In this series, we will be including conversations with guests who work in these areas of challenge, with social justice activists and educators, and artists using performance and art to foster listening and understanding across divides. In these conversations we will be exploring various types of “othering,” including race, class, religion, ethnicity, access to housing, immigration status, dominant language, and more.

In addition to interviews with guests working in challenging areas, we will be speaking with guests working in the areas of compassion and emotion research as well, discussing the science behind broadening our compassion.

Our project may raise more questions than it answers, but we believe that in the spectrum of humanity we all meet in at least one space – we all want our needs met – and our dreams can be expansive enough to include love and curiosity for others, instead of creating our own silos from a perspective of scarcity to make sure only our needs are met.

Our aspiration is to motivate others to be curious, question their assumptions and stereotypes, and open to experiences of connection. We truly believe that everyone belongs, that in a system where there are winners and losers, in fact everyone loses. Diversity and difference should not be seen as threats, rather as factors that enrich all our lives. We hope this series inspires you to reach across the divide that separates you from someone else and experience a shared sense of care and connection.

Our first episode is coming soon!

Our team

Before talking about the individual team members, in the spirit of love, we’d like to talk about our relationships with each other. Mathew Divaris met Tenzin when he attended an interfaith retreat she led in 2014, and then he continued attending Buddhist and interfaith retreats with her until he moved to Virginia in 2021. Mathew started co-hosting and producing Tenzin’s monthly radio show and podcast in 2021. Mathew has helped Tenzin with publicity for her programs, designing her website (Unlocking True Happiness) and Instagram page. As Mathew has a background in marketing and business, he has been an invaluable support over the years for all of Tenzin’s projects.

Greg and Tenzin met in 2017 while attending a Compassion Cultivation Training at Stanford university, and have been close friends ever since. After they both completed the CCT teacher training, they co-taught the curriculum in both the full eight-week version and as daylong retreats at various locations in Santa Cruz and the Bay Area, and collaborated on podcast interviews as well.

Mathew and Greg have also been together and in conversation in both classes and on podcasts.

This project emerged from conversations we’ve had with each other and an emerging focus for all of us on bridging divides, and we truly hope you enjoy our collaboration as much as we do!

Tenzin Chogkyi, co-host

Tenzin Chogkyi has been teaching Buddhist meditation and philosophy since 2006, lived for 20 years as a Buddhist monastic, and is a certified teacher of Stanford’s Compassion Cultivation Training and the Cultivating Emotional Balance program. She taught in men’s prisons for 15 years until the COVID pandemic.

Over the last few years, she has dedicated her time to compassion training and various projects focused on bridging differences through dialogues and community events, described below.

• Developed and hosted the Unlocking True Happiness podcast with over 10,000 downloads since early 2021

• Hosted a monthly radio show on KSQD public radio in Santa Cruz for over five years

• Founder of the Sustainable Service Program, supporting people engaged in compassionate action

• Training and curriculum specialist and community mediator for the Conflict Resolution Center of Santa Cruz County

• Facilitated community dialogues using the model developed by Essential Partners and Living Room Conversations

• Organized  events in Santa Cruz modeled on The Human Library and became a Human Library librarian in 2025

• Involved in interfaith dialogue since 2013

https://www.unlockingtruehappiness.org and https://www.linkedin.com/in/tenzin-chogkyi/

Greg Morris, co-host

Greg Morris (pronouns: any) is a teacher, coach, management consultant, and committed learner:

• Received an MBA from Stanford University and an AB in Economics from Princeton University

• Certified teacher of Stanford’s Compassion Cultivation Training since 2021

• Management consultant with over 35 years of experience in global diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), human resources, marketing, and finance

• Participant in the King Center’s “Be Love” and “Nonviolence365” virtual learning series (2021-2022); dedicated advocate of the six principles of Kingian nonviolence

A lifelong peace advocate and bridge-builder with childhood grounding in Unitarianism, he offers his spiritual practice as the foundation for all of his work.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-m-1236143/

Mathew Divaris, producer and co-host

Mathew has been hosting, producing, and publicizing the Unlocking True Happiness podcast and the KSQD radio show since early 2021. With his extensive professional experience in marketing, publicity, and branding, he is the perfect person to bring this project to a wide audience.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mathew-divaris/

Tenzin joins Scott Snibbe on "A Skeptic's Path to Enlightenment"

Tenzin speaks with Scott Snibbe about the power of enthusiasm and joyful effort, which make up one of Buddhism's six perfections, has a method for maintaining our joy in daily life even when life is difficult.

Full Episode Here.

Tenzin then also leads a meditation on how to stay joyful and engaged—not ignoring the world’s problems, but being wise in how we condition our minds to avoid burnout and despair.

Meditation Here