To compile his new book, My Favorite Place on Earth, Jerry Camarillo Dunn Jr., interviewed dozens of famous people -- from Natalie Portman to the Dalai Lama -- about the places they loved most. He's been guest-blogging about his experiences here on Intelligent Travel. Click here for recent posts.
What makes a place memorable? Often it's the people who live there, or did long ago: Think of Egypt, Mesa Verde, or Angkor Wat. It may even be a single person, as mind-body medicine pioneer Deepak Chopra discovered in Jerusalem. Here's part of his story from My Favorite Place on Earth:
"One day I walked down the Via Dolorosa, the street in the Old City where Jesus carried the cross. The stations of the cross are marked out, and I began my walk where he was sentenced, at Pontius Pilate's court. The second station is where Jesus was flagellated, the third where he fell and was helped up. And I ended at Calvary, the hill where he was crucified.
What makes a place memorable? Often it's the people who live there, or did long ago: Think of Egypt, Mesa Verde, or Angkor Wat. It may even be a single person, as mind-body medicine pioneer Deepak Chopra discovered in Jerusalem. Here's part of his story from My Favorite Place on Earth:"One day I walked down the Via Dolorosa, the street in the Old City where Jesus carried the cross. The stations of the cross are marked out, and I began my walk where he was sentenced, at Pontius Pilate's court. The second station is where Jesus was flagellated, the third where he fell and was helped up. And I ended at Calvary, the hill where he was crucified.
"People say, well, nobody really knows the exact route that Jesus took
when he carried the cross. But if it's all within the area of the tiny
Old City, you couldn't be more than a stone's throw away anyway, so it
doesn't matter.
"At a certain point, you realize that differentiating between history and mythology isn't important. As Joseph Campbell used to say, mythology becomes more important than history. This is because history is a form of journalism and so reflects the journalist's point of view. But mythology is what captures our collective imagination as human beings.
"There's a practice called psychometry, based on the idea that a person can get information about an event by touching something related to it. You hold a rock or a relic and allow your imagination to go into the past. At one station of the cross along the Via Dolorosa, there is a handprint on the wall, supposedly the handprint of Jesus as he struggled to prevent himself from falling. I put my hand right into the handprint. And I felt great love, compassion, and pain, all at the same time."
Learn more about Deepak Chopra, and read other remarkable stories in My Favorite Place on Earth at www.myfavoriteplacenatgeo.com.
Photo: Chopra.org
"At a certain point, you realize that differentiating between history and mythology isn't important. As Joseph Campbell used to say, mythology becomes more important than history. This is because history is a form of journalism and so reflects the journalist's point of view. But mythology is what captures our collective imagination as human beings.
"There's a practice called psychometry, based on the idea that a person can get information about an event by touching something related to it. You hold a rock or a relic and allow your imagination to go into the past. At one station of the cross along the Via Dolorosa, there is a handprint on the wall, supposedly the handprint of Jesus as he struggled to prevent himself from falling. I put my hand right into the handprint. And I felt great love, compassion, and pain, all at the same time."
Learn more about Deepak Chopra, and read other remarkable stories in My Favorite Place on Earth at www.myfavoriteplacenatgeo.com.
Photo: Chopra.org
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You are absolutely right, people who live there make that place memorable. Travelers and tourists always remember the society and culture of the city and it makes the trip amazing experience.
Shail : Agra India
mythology is what captures our collective imagination as human beings
- well said.
Imagination the tool to discover oneself.
Imagination And universe was created may be.
Imagination is self
And,
History is what is wriiten for us and others to read.
My favourite place on earth - where I was born.