About US
Community Statement
Sit Around Chicago was founded in 2020 as a Buddhist organization that connects temples, community, and practitioners in the Chicagoland area.
We value all Buddhist traditions and practices. While everyone is welcome, we seek to be inclusive of Asians, Asian-Americans, people of color, and other persons who have been displaced by the colonial narrative that often pervades American Buddhism.
We are committed to disrupting hierarchies that may persist in some forms of patriarchal Buddhism and believe that all beings possess Buddha nature, Buddha heart, and Buddha wisdom equally and without exception.
PEOPLE
Sabaha Lee Round
Sabaha moved to Chicago in 2014, the same year she began a regular Buddhist practice. She has attended seminary in a Korean Seon tradition. She has been a guiding teacher for children and teens exploring Buddhism, including creating a Dharma leadership program and supporting Precept training. In her free time, Sabaha is a doctoral candidate in social services at the University of Chicago, where she studies U.S. homeless youth policy and ethics. Sabaha enjoys embroidery and hanging with Alex sometimes.
Alex Bernstein
Alex is a life-long Chicagoan, father, and high school teacher, and the Temple Director for Ancient Dragon Zen Gate in Chicago's Lincoln Square. He began practicing Buddhism in 2012 in the Korean Seon tradition. In 2019, he received ordination as a priest from his root teacher, Samu Sunim. In 2020, Alex began studying with Taigen Dan Leighton, a Soto Zen teacher and scholar in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki. His teachers have suggested that Alex is too much of a tight-butt meditator, and he’s inclined to agree. He enjoys long runs, making music, and his partner, Sabaha, even when she is being profoundly annoying.