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Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine facts for kids

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Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine
LakeShrineTempleSRF 20140908 (15043884639).jpg
Main Temple of the Lake Shrine
Religion
Affiliation Self-Realization Fellowship
Status Temple and Retreat Center
Location
Location 17190 Sunset Blvd.
Pacific Palisades, California 90272 United States
Architecture
Architectural style Combination of Eastern and Western
Founder Paramahansa Yogananda
Completed 1996
Specifications
Capacity 400 (sanctuary seating)
Height (max) 58 feet (18 m)
Website
lakeshrine.org

The Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine lies a few blocks from the Pacific Ocean, on Sunset Boulevard in Pacific Palisades, California. It was founded and dedicated by Paramahansa Yogananda, on August 20, 1950 and is owned by the Self-Realization Fellowship. The 10-acre (40,000 m2) site has lush gardens, a large spring-fed lake framed by natural hillsides, and a variety of flora and fauna, swans, ducks, koi, turtles, and lotus flowers. The property is a natural amphitheater. Thousands of visitors come each year.

COVID-19 pandemic

Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, Lake Shrine is open to visitors by advanced reservation only. The Lake Shrine website has the latest information.

Overview

Yogananda Center - Visitor Center and Windmill
The visitor center (left) and windmill chapel (right) are beside the lake

The visitor center provides information about Lake Shrine. There are waterfalls, fountains, flower beds, statues, white swans across the lake, lacy fern grottos, lily ponds, and a Dutch windmill which is used as a chapel. The Court of Religions, honoring five principal religions of the world, displays the symbols of these religions: a cross for Christianity, a Star of David for Judaism, a Wheel of Law for Buddhism, a crescent moon and star for Islam, and the Om symbol for Hinduism. Yogananda believed in an underlying harmony of all faiths that unites us all. Along with a few statues of Krishna and other Hindu deities, there is also a life-size statue of Jesus Christ, above the waterfall, as well as Francis of Assisi and the Madonna and Child.

Court of Religions symbols (from left to right, top downward): Dharmachakra, Star of David, Christian cross, Star and crescent, and Om.

The golden lotus archway, a towering, sleek, white arch trimmed with blue tile, and topped with gold lotus blossoms, is visible from all parts of the grounds. The archway frames the Mahatma Gandhi World Peace Memorial, an outdoor shrine where an authentic 1,000-year-old Chinese stone sarcophagus holds a portion of the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi.

The gardens are filled with little brick paths and short stairways which lead from the main trail to hidden alcoves where meditation or sitting and taking in the view is possible. The gift shop features arts and crafts from India which is adjacent to a museum focusing on Paramahansa Yogananda, the founder of Lake Shrine. There is a Dutch windmill converted into a chapel, a houseboat, a bookstore and a temple overlooking the lake.

History

The site of the present day Lake Shrine was once part of a 460-acre parcel of land in the Santa Ynez Canyon, called Bison Ranch. It was purchased by the silent film producer and director Thomas H. Ince in 1912 to serve as his studio and was subsequently named Inceville. After Ince founded his new Triangle/Ince Studios in Culver City in 1915, the site was taken over by director William S. Hart and eventually renamed Hartville. For a period of time hence, the property was utilized as a sand, rock, and gravel quarry before it was later purchased by Los Angeles real-estate magnate Alphonso Bell, Sr. in 1927. At some point over the course of the next decade, the surrounding hillsides were hydraulically graded to fill the canyon, with the intention to level it for future development. The earth-moving project was never completed, which left a large basin in the portion of canyon that eventually filled to a depth of 20 ft (6.1 m) with water from four springs within the vicinity. It was used as a local swimming hole during this period. The 2.5-acre water body (10,000 m2) became known as Lake Santa Ynez; the only natural spring-fed lake within the City of Los Angeles.

The property was purchased by H. Everett "Big Mac" McElroy (a superintendent of construction at 20th Century Studio) in 1940, when it was again used as a film set. During his ownership, McElroy and his wife lived in three successively originative domiciles: their two-story Mississippi-styled houseboat ("Adeline") transported from Lake Mead, a mill house McElroy constructed (which today serves as the gift shop and museum) equipped with a 2.5 ton 15 ft (4.6 m) water wheel used for onsite irrigation from captured lake overflow, and a sixteenth-century replica of a Dutch windmill he built, which later served as the first chapel of the Lake Shrine. The windmill, though functional, was never utilized. After the McElroys had moved into the mill house, they rented out the houseboat to film stars, movie-industry people, and on occasion to unnamed royalty.

In 1948, McElroy and his wife sold the property to Rene Williams and Joseph M. Gross (an oil company executive) for a reported price exceeding $250,000. Their plans to redevelop the site into a resort included a rambling $2.3 million, 150-room hotel to be constructed around the contour of Lake Santa Ynez. However, one evening Mr. Gross purportedly had a dream reoccur three times, where in the middle of lake there was a platform adorned with a podium. Here ministers from the "churches of all religions" addressed thousands of attendees. When Mr. Gross awoke, he looked up the name "Church of All Religions" in the telephone directory and found the listing for the Self-Realization Fellowship Church of All Religions located in Hollywood. Inspired by this extraordinary coincidence, Gross immediately composed a letter to go out in the next day's mail, which described his dream and included an offer to sell his property. He was soon in contact with Paramahansa Yogananda who acquired the property in 1949, and hence constructed a temple, meditation garden, and the Mahatma Gandhi peace memorial. The dedication of the Lake Shrine took place on August 20, 1950.

Features

Gandhi shrine

Yogananda Center - Gandhi Shrine
Sarcophagus of the Mahatma Gandhi World Peace Memorial

The Lake Shrine is home for the Mahatma Gandhi World Peace Memorial, the "wall-less temple" erected in honor of Mahatma Gandhi, architect of India's freedom through nonviolent means. The focal point of the memorial is a thousand-year-old stone sarcophagus from China, in which a portion of Gandhi's ashes are encased in a brass and silver coffer. The sarcophagus is flanked by two statues of Guanyin.

The ashes had been sent to Yogananda by an old friend, Dr. V.M. Nawle, a publisher and journalist from Pune, India. Following the dedication of the memorial, Dr. Nawle wrote:

"Regarding Gandhi ashes, I may say that they are scattered and thrown in almost all the important rivers and seas, and nothing is given outside India except the remains which I have sent to you after a great ordeal ... You are the only one in the whole world who received Gandhi ashes outside India."

For some, enshrining Gandhi's ashes at Lake Shrine is controversial since the Hindu cremation ritual ends with immersion of the ashes in water. One report states that Gandhi's relatives want the ashes at Lake Shrine to be immersed in water. Another report states that the descendants of Mahatma Gandhi do not want to have the ashes removed because it would entail breaking the shrines.

Windmill chapel

Looking toward the Dutch windmill from houseboat.
The Mississippi-style houseboat "Adeline" moored in Lake Santa Ynez.

The previous owners, the McElroys, built an authentic reproduction of a 16th-century Dutch windmill. Though the mill was never put to use, its sails are functional and capable of turning in the wind. Then came a boat dock and landing, whose peaked roof, carved figure-heads, and benches added yet another charming touch to the unusual setting. Yogananda converted the windmill into a chapel were meditations and services were held. Due to the erosion caused by the elements, termites, and the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the chapel was closed to the public in 2013. Cost overruns delayed the completion of the Windmill Chapel for another year. The reopening of the chapel took place on July 27, 2015.

Lake, waterfalls and animal life

Two waterfalls feed into the Lake Shrine, one that falls approximately 25 feet (7.6 m), and another series-waterfall, that falls approximately 10 feet (3.0 m).

Large waterfall with statue of Jesus on top
The small waterfall with a statue of Krishna
Looking toward the golden lotus-topped Gandhi memorial, with swans in foreground


Yogananda (Paramahansa means supreme or highest swan) encouraged swans to live on the Lake Shrine. Their large nests can be seen in this locale. Anandamoy said in the recording, Is Peace Possible in Today's World that when he was a minister at the Lake Shrine, they had three pairs of swans: one white, one black, and one white with a black necks. The lake was big enough for everybody but the swans fought, fighting for the kill. They had to be separated, by dividing the lake into three sections. Anandamoy continues saying that swans are like people and as long as one party wants the "whole cake" there will be war. If people follow the laws of God, overcome selfishness and consider the welfare of everyone, we will have peace eventually.


Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine para niños

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