Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine

This is the first post in the series of my favorite places in Los Angeles. The subject of this post reveals the unexpected in Los Angeles. In a city known for its traffic and smog, you can find pockets of beauty and nature hiding between major streets. My first favorite is the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in the Pacific Palisades.

Finding peace on the westside

The village of Pacific Palisades is an overlooked neighborhood in all of the guides and reviews of Los Angeles. It is full of unexpected treasures. Hiking in Will Rogers Historic State Park brings you to a waterfall on top of a mountain. Pacific Palisades’ cliffs are home to two iconic Mid-Century modern homes. It is the home of the Self-Relization Lake Shrine, which is across the street from hiking trails and the backyard of the Getty Villa.

Getting to the Lake Shrine

The barrier to finding places of peace in Los Angeles is knowing where to look.

From the Pacific Coast Highway, you can see a white dome topped with a glistening gold object peeking above the hills, but figuring out how to get to it is a challenge. To find it, you do not need to scour the cliffs; you have to go to drive downhill to its entrance on Sunset Boulevard. Just a warning that coming from the east, from Brentwood, the turn-off sneaks up on you, and before you know it, you are driving into the ocean with no place to turn back. Driving north on the Pacific Coast Highway/PCH from Santa Monica offers an advantage as Los Liones Drive is a noticeable landmark. This alternate route, up the PCH, has more signage and a view of the ocean.

The lake and grounds

The Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine is an unlikely oasis between major streets.

If you were ever to feel so overwhelmed while you are on the west side, The Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine offers places to sit and meditate surrounded by nature. When you leave the parking lot, it is like someone flipped the off noise. It is a wonder this place is so silent, with the close-by beach traffic, the sounds of car radios blasting, and metro buses traveling up and down the adjacent streets.

There is so much to take notice of here. A lotus-topped open-air temple beckons you from your first steps off of the parking lot. It pulls you to that space, to sit on the grassy meadow and breathe the place in. Across the grass, you will notice a shrine with an arch-like chamber at its center. Upon closer inspection, you learn that this contains some of the ashes of Mohandas K. Gandhi. Learn how Gandhi’s ashes got to Los Angeles in the first place.

It is easy to spend a lot of quiet time at the Lake Shrine. The lake, at the center of the property, where this place gets its name, has paths and plenty of places to stop and contemplate. Spend time watching turtles, and fish swim in the milky blue waters. Around the lake, you will find shaded and sunny benches, waterfalls, and an alcove of bamboo that is being watched over by a meditating Buddha. During my visit, I watched swans build a nest, extending their necks to their full length, which looked oddly alien and arm-like.

The healing power of nature is a focus here, from the creatures who call this place home, bamboo forests, to the sounds of water features. It is easy to forget that you are in busy Los Angeles. 

It was the hope of the Lake Shrine’s creator to have a place where all denominations could come and communicate with their higher power together–whatever that may be. You will notice the symbols of other religions around the property, some optimistically close together.

The shrine

The shrine, which is up a few steep flights of stairs, offers a communal space to meditate. On a hot day, the inside was dark, cool, and quiet. In this building, they offer guided and self-guided meditation. If you are there for self-guided, be sure to come with a little practice and an intention to guide you during your stay. They do not allow cell phones in the shrine.

The history 

The location has its roots in Old Hollywood and silent film.

Before the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine, this place was known as Inceville. Inceville was a city built by filmmakers escaping the reach of Thomas Edison. (Read more about this in my Edendale post.)

Inceville’s creator, Thomas Ince, was the father of the silent Western. In the photo above, you see the buildings made to look like an old western town, set against the Pacific Ocean. After Ince’s mysterious death, the lot went up for sale. (Read more about this in my Annenberg Beach House Tips.)

It passed hands between movie studios and real-estate developers before becoming the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in 1950. Based upon the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, who envisioned a place where people could come and experience peace and intention, no matter their faith. (Or no faith at all)

I love this place for its quietness and how it feels so far from Los Angeles without traveling hundreds of miles. If you had no idea this place existed before reading this post, I am glad to introduce you to it.

Hours, cost, and Information

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