thekchen choling
Syracuse

Want to communicate better? Improve your interpersonal skills?

If so, you’re invited to a Conversations Worth Having (CWH) workshop at Thekchen Choling Syracuse on Friday, April 10, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The in-person workshop is open to anyone wanting to enhance their conversation skills at home and work and throughout their communities, spiritual, religious or otherwise.

The event is co-hosted by the Rev. Todd McDonald, a minister of the United Church of Canada, and Andy Gavalis, a Thekchen Choling board member and literacy education professor at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania. Both are certified CWH trainers.

Registration is required for the workshop, which is open to the public and comes with a suggested $200 donation. To register, visit Conversations Worth Having (CWH) Workshop.

Thekchen Choling is located at 109 East Ave. in Minoa, New York. For more information, contact the center at tccl.syracuse@gmail.com or 315.480.1088.

Attendees will learn two simple practices for developing a conversation worth having. “You’ll learn how to envision and practice conversations where you feel heard and where new ideas emerge,” says McDonald, a resident of southeastern Ontario. “You’ll also learn how to create an environment that fuels a sense of unity, belonging and purpose.” 

CWH is a communication framework rooted in Appreciative Inquiry (IA) and Positive Psychology.

McDonald describes AI as a “strengths-based, positive approach to organizational change.” “It focuses on what works rather than what doesn’t.” Gavalis adds that AI can turn tough conversations into “opportunities for building connection, trust and progress.”

Whereas AI techniques like generative questioning involve asking open-ended, empathetic and forward-looking questions, Positive Psychology—particularly the practice of positive reframing—focuses on strengths and problem-solving.

CWH was founded in 2018 to foster connection and productivity in the workplace. The rise of affective polarization has sparked demand for CWH in other formerly neutral spaces, like the home, church and temple.

For example, Gavalis uses CWH practices and principles to great effect at Thekchen Choling, despite living three hours away. “Along with my daily Buddhist practice, Conversations Worth Having provides a transformative way of engaging in right speech,” says the Poconos resident.

“Right speech leads to right relationship, which embraces compassion, curiosity and openness,” McDonald says. “Conversations Worth Having helps open us to the sacred in each other.”

Thekchen Choling is part of a family of Tibetan Buddhist centers founded by Singha Namdrol Rinpoche, a revered Singaporean lama. The Syracuse-based temple offers classes, workshops and retreats; operates an online puja service; and houses a collection of rare Buddhist artifacts.

“This workshop is offered in response to Rinpoche’s advice to make Thekchen Choling a place for not only Buddhists but also people from all backgrounds,” Gavalis continues. “Everyone is invited to attend.”  

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