Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine

• 1. Introduction

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  The Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine sits on Sunset Boulevard in Pacific Palisades, California, only a few blocks from the Pacific Ocean. Its 10 acres cradle a spring-fed lake inside a landscape shaped like an amphitheater. Thousands of visitors walk its little brick paths each year. The calm of the place hides a stranger past. Paramahansa Yogananda founded the shrine, and the Self-Realization Fellowship owns it. Several things he built here invite questions. Why does a Dutch windmill serve as a chapel? Why does a thousand-year-old Chinese stone coffin anchor a memorial to an Indian leader? How did a swampy canyon become a place where musicians, actors and spiritual seekers have gathered for decades?

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• 2. Fire and Film

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  In 1912, the silent film producer and director Thomas H. Ince bought a slice of Santa Ynez Canyon. It belonged to a 460 acre parcel called Bison Ranch, which he had first used on a daily lease. Ince built an expansive network of sets there. The studio was first known as the Miller 101 Bison Ranch studio, then as Inceville, and then as Triangle Ranch.

  In 1915, Ince founded a new studio in Culver City, and the following year director William S. Hart took over the canyon site. It eventually became Hartville. On the 16th of January 1916, a fire broke out at the Inceville studio. It was the first of many, and together they eventually claimed every timber-frame building on the property.

  In 1920, Hart sold the land to the Robertson-Cole Pictures Corporation, which renamed it R.C. Ranch. Filming continued until a blaze on the 4th of July 1922 destroyed every remaining structure except an old church built of stone. After that, the land served for a time as a quarry for sand, rock and gravel.

  The Los Angeles real-estate magnate Alphonzo Bell Sr. later bought the property. In 1927, crews used hydraulic grading to push the surrounding hillsides into the canyon, hoping to level it for development. The earth-moving project was never completed. An unleveled basin remained, and four springs, both hot and cold, filled it to a depth of 20 ft.

  The 2.5 acre pool became known as Lake Santa Ynez, the only spring-fed lake within the City of Los Angeles. For more than a decade afterward, the property stayed undeveloped.

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• 3. The Mudhole Dream

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  Cattails and reeds grew until they screened most of the lake from view, and locals treated it as a swimming hole. Many neighbors considered the land worthless swampland. In 1940, H. Everett "Big Mac" McElroy bought it anyway. He was the assistant superintendent of construction at 20th Century Studio, and the lake served once more as a film set.

  McElroy later admitted, "There is no doubt that we were labeled as crazy." Yet he saw something in his mudhole. He recalled, "I could see terraces of trees - all kinds of trees, maybe five-hundred tropical and otherwise." The lake was dredged, and the weeds were cleared away.

  The McElroys lived in three different homes on the property. One was a two-story, Mississippi-style houseboat named Adeline, brought over from Lake Mead. Another was a mill house that McElroy built, which today holds the gift shop and museum. It had a 2.5 ton water wheel, 15 ft across, that irrigated the grounds with captured lake overflow. The third was a replica of a sixteenth-century Dutch windmill. It worked, but it was never used.

  Once the family settled into the mill house, they rented out the houseboat. Guests included film stars, movie-industry people and, on occasion, unnamed royalty. At some point, a Chinese junk was also moored on the eastern shore.

  In 1948, the McElroys sold the property to Rene Williams and Joseph M. Gross, an oil company executive. The reported price exceeded $250,000. Gross and his wife moved into the windmill. They planned a resort with a rambling, 150-room hotel, costing $2.3 million, wrapped around the contour of the lake.

  Then, one evening, Gross reportedly dreamed the same dream three times. In the middle of the lake stood a platform with a podium, where ministers from the "churches of all religions" spoke to thousands of listeners. When he woke, he searched the telephone directory for "Church of All Religions." He found a listing for the Self-Realization Fellowship Church of All Religions, in Hollywood.

  Gross wrote a letter that night, describing the dream and offering to sell his property. It was to go out in the next day's mail. Rather than wait for a reply, he telephoned the church headquarters the following day and was transferred to Paramahansa Yogananda.

  Yogananda spoke first, before the caller could introduce himself. "You have some property for sale, don't you? When can I see it?" Gross answered, "But you haven't received my letter." Yogananda replied, "The letter will come tomorrow morning. Can we meet tomorrow afternoon?" The next day he toured the site and immediately began planning an open-air shrine of all religions.

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• 4. Dedication Day

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  In 1949, with the support of several benefactors, Yogananda acquired the property. He built a temple, a meditation garden and the Mahatma Gandhi peace memorial. During the months of improvement, he commuted from the Mount Washington hermitage and spent at least several nights aboard the houseboat. He wanted the grounds to reflect every aspect of God through peace, beauty and harmony. He also invoked a blessing on all future visitors.

  The public dedication took place on the 20th of August 1950. Lieutenant Governor Goodwin Knight gave the keynote speech to some 1,500 attendees. Several foreign dignitaries were among them. Within the first eight months of opening, ten thousand people had visited.

  Yogananda said the setting reminded him of Kashmir. In Autobiography of a Yogi, he described the plantings. "Guadalupe palms and Chinese rice-paper trees adorn the lake shores and other parts of the grounds," he wrote. He listed mango, papaya, guava, cherimoya, fig, pepino, banana and rose-apple trees as well. Much of the landscaping and rockwork, he noted, was the handiwork of residential disciples.

  He also wrote of a three-story brick replica of a Dutch windmill house, whose courtyard garden holds an SRF Cafe. Nearby, a fragrant area of ginger plants, bamboos and cacti leads to a sumac-shaded meditation seat. That seat is a natural formation of coral stone from the Salton Sea.

  On the 6th of March 1952, the day before he died, Yogananda joined a group of monks for what became known as the Guru's "Last Supper." For over an hour, he chanted "Light the Lamp of Thy Love" while playing the organ.

  Improvements have continued since. The main temple rose on the southern bluff above the lake in 1996, and a monastics' ashram and retreat followed in 1997. In 1998, the Fellowship bought the adjoining Santa Ynez Transcendental Meditation property. A steel structure and copper roof covered the Gandhi memorial in 2002, and the Court of Religions and entrance gate were renovated in 2003. The houseboat was renovated in 2007, and a newly replaced landing arrived in 2023.

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• 5. Many Faiths, One Memorial

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  A cross, a Star of David, a Wheel of Law, a crescent moon and star, and the Om symbol mark the Court of Religions. They stand for Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism. Yogananda believed in an underlying harmony that unites all faiths. The grounds reflect that belief. Statues of Krishna and other Hindu deities share the shrine with a life-size Jesus Christ above the waterfall, plus Francis of Assisi and the Madonna and Child.

  A towering, sleek white arch trimmed with blue tile rises along the southern lakeshore. Gold lotus blossoms crown it, and it can be seen from every part of the grounds. A massive ellipsoidal pinnacle sits at the center, flanked by two large lotuses. All of them are copper coated with golden varnish.

  The arch frames the Mahatma Gandhi World Peace Memorial. Yogananda designed it as a "wall-less temple" to honor the man who led India toward freedom by nonviolent means. At its focal point stands a thousand-year-old stone sarcophagus from China, flanked by two statues of Guanyin. Inside, a portion of Gandhi's ashes rests in a brass and silver coffer.

  Dr. V.M. Nawle, an old friend of Yogananda and a publisher and journalist from Pune, India, sent the ashes. After the memorial was dedicated, he wrote that most of the ashes had been scattered in nearly all the important rivers and seas. He sent these remains "after a great ordeal." He told Yogananda, "You are the only one in the whole world who received Gandhi ashes outside India."

  Not everyone is comfortable with the arrangement. The Hindu cremation ritual ends with immersion of the ashes in water, so enshrining them is controversial for some. One report says Gandhi's relatives want the ashes at the Lake Shrine immersed. Another says his descendants oppose moving them, because removal would mean breaking the shrines.

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• 6. Windmill Chapel

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  Until the main temple rose on the southern bluff, every service at the Lake Shrine took place in the windmill chapel. Yogananda converted the McElroys' reproduction into a place for meditations and services. It was enlarged once during the 1950s, and again later to hold ever larger crowds.

  Erosion, termites and the 1994 Northridge earthquake took their toll. The chapel closed to the public in 2013. Cost overruns then delayed completion for another year. During exploratory demolition, workers discovered that the windmill tower was poorly connected to the lower structure, which made it unreliable in an earthquake. The job grew into a major engineering project.

  To fix the flaw, crews installed two steel beams, each 18 ft long. They anchor the octagonal tower to the masonry of the outer walls and spread the load across the lower structure. Hidden steel reinforcement was added elsewhere to help prevent earthquake damage.

  About six years earlier, Fellowship staff had bought rare old-growth redwood beams salvaged in Mendocino County. That wood became the 20 ft replacement windmill vanes, the fascia and other exterior elements. Over some four hundred years, the redwood had built up a high level of tannin. It resists weather and termites, and it is estimated to last for hundreds of years.

  The restoration took nearly two years, and the builders worked to match the original look inside and out. Architects, engineers and professional tradespeople worked beside SRF monks who had carpentry and construction experience. The tiles on the tower were removed, numbered and reinstalled in their original order. Workers re-created the sails, window casings, skylight and other custom woodwork.

  They also replaced or repaired every roof. Upgrades reached the furnace, gas lines, disabled access, retaining walls and landscaping. The electrical, security, audio and fire alarm systems were improved as well. Devotees' donations paid for the entire project.

  The chapel reopened on the 27th of July 2015 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Brother Achalananda officiated, after an introduction by Brother Vishwananda.

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• 7. Swans and Waterfalls

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  Lake Santa Ynez averages 15 ft in depth, and two waterfalls feed it. One drops about 25 ft. The other is a series of falls dropping about 10 ft. Ducks, koi, turtles and lotus flowers share the water, and swans nest along the shore.

  Swans suit the shrine's founder. The title Paramahansa means supreme or highest swan, and Yogananda encouraged swans to live on the lake. Their large nests can still be seen.

  Brother Anandamoy spoke about the birds in a recording called Is Peace Possible in Today's World. As a minister at the Lake Shrine, he recalled, he had three pairs of swans. One pair was white, one was black, and one was white with a black neck. The lake was big enough for all of them, yet they fought fiercely. They had to be separated, and the lake was divided into three sections.

  Anandamoy compared the swans to people. As long as one party wants the "whole cake," he said, there will be war. His conclusion was that if people follow the laws of God, overcome selfishness and consider everyone's welfare, peace will eventually come.

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• 8. Pilgrims, Mourners and Flames

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  Elvis Presley loved the shrine. According to his friend Jerry Schilling, Elvis walked around the lake and picked up brochures. Later he sent away for information about Eastern philosophy. He formed a 12-year relationship with Sri Daya Mata, then president of the Self-Realization Fellowship. When he was troubled, he often called her for advice.

  The actor Dennis Weaver belonged to the Fellowship and spoke at the Lake Shrine once a month for seventeen years. His wife, Gerry, played the organ. He said, "We called it our 'mom and pop' church and it was one of my great blessings. It was life-changing." While guest-starring on McCloud, the actress Linda Evans accepted his invitation to hear one of his Sunday sermons. He gave her Autobiography of a Yogi. She later wrote, "Because of Dennis I took the first step in what would become a lifelong spiritual journey."

  The shrine has also hosted many farewells. After the death of George Harrison, one of the most prominent members of the Fellowship, his family and friends gathered in the small Windmill Chapel for his funeral. Ravi Shankar attended with his wife. The Los Angeles Times reported the scene.

  In 1979, friends of the singer-songwriter Judee Sill, who lived from 1944 to 1979, held a service for her at the shrine after she died of an overdose in November. Her ashes were then scattered on the Pacific Ocean. Lux Interior, lead singer of the Cramps, had his memorial service in the Windmill Chapel on the 21st of February 2009.

  On the 12th of July 2014, a memorial service for the jazz singer and actor Herb Jeffries took place at the shrine. Yogananda was his guru. Jeffries was known worldwide for performing with Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Earl "Fatha" Hines. He was also remembered as "The Bronze Buckaroo," the first African-American to take a lead role in westerns. Tom Petty's memorial was held at the Lake Shrine in October 2017.

  The canyon that once burned again and again faced flames in 2025. The Palisades Fire surrounded the property. One family defended the Lake Shrine for four days. There was some damage, but most of the facilities came through unharmed because of their efforts.

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