The American International Hospital where His Holiness attained Parinirvana still exists, but has grown and expanded and changed ownership. It is one amongst a network of centers, now called Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Midwest Regional Medical Center. People refer to this facility as the Chicago Center, although it is located in Zion, IL, about 45 miles north of the heart of the city of Chicago. The cancer center is about a mile and a half from Lake Michigan in the State of Illinois, approximately three miles from the Wisconsin border. Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of the US and Canada, formed by glaciers. Illinois Beach State Park creates a recreational accessible space for humans and animals alike.
Directly west of the cancer center is Shilo Park alive with a pond, geese and ducks and other waterfowl. To the north is Historic Shiloh House, the former residence of the city’s founder, Dr. John Alexander Dowie—who preached divine healing and whose intention was to build a religious utopia and planned industrial community in the early 1900s (+ more). The park was designed/built as a central point with “spokes” extending outward in all directions. From what we’ve researched, this design had some kind of religious energetic significance. It seems interesting that Dowie chose this specific place to build a utopian society, with God as ruler, and His Holiness 16th Karmapa also chose this location to pass into Parinirvana.
Additional Historical Information
After the organization of the Christian Catholic Church in Zion, Dowie dreamed of a city where his congregation would be free from the evils of the world, a city where God would be the ruler. He first looked for land south of Chicago in the Blue Island area, but the land was not suitable, so he looked north of the city. In the fall of 1899, Dowie visited the land north of Waukegan and envisioned what he would come to name “Zion City.” After successfully securing options on approximately 6,600 acres of land, he unveiled his plan for Zion City at the Watchnight Service the eve of the New Year 1900. It would be a city where his congregation could worship, work, and play free from the temptations of the world. Zion City was the only city, besides Washington D.C., that had plans completed before the first spade of dirt was turned. There would be places of employment—he imported a lace mill from England—schools, and recreational facilities, all controlled by John A. Dowie. The land would be leased to the people, with definite restrictions, for 1100 years. Dowie reasoned that Christ’s return was to be within 100 years and then the millennium, after which there would be no need for leases.
The people would share in the profits of the industries in Zion City and the profits, tithes, and offerings would be sufficient for the support of the Christian Catholic Church in Zion.
