(Golden Lotus Archway)
We started from Malibu to visit the holy "Lake Shrine" located in an affluent residential area where many Hollywood celebrities reside. On the way we saw many beaches with cafes,snack bars and shops selling souvenirs and refreshments.Some people were surfing while others were standing in knee deep waters to enjoy the cool laving touch of ripples of the pacific ocean.
As we entered the "Lake Shrine" to our left we saw a beautiful garden with religious symbols, called "the Court of Religions" representing the five important religions of the world.(the star for Judaism, the cross for Christianity, the the star and crescent for Islam, the wheel of law for Buddhism and the sacred latter Om for Hinduism). The beautiful surroundings with shady trees, rocky slopes, water falls and marble statues and arches made us feel as if we had entered the real abode of peace far from wordly commotion.The statue of Madonna with infant Christ near the gift shop attracted our attention. We entered the gift shop and found many books, photos, holy rosaries, idols and photos. As we moved on, the statue of Jesus Christ near the waterfall was seen as if welcoming us to slake our thirst with eternal love. The statue of the Buddha in the dark groves suffused with silence seemed a suitable place for peaceful meditation. The statue of Lord Krishna is another center of attraction with His valuable teaching of Gita engraved beneath "He who perceives me everywhere / and beholds every thing in me/ never loses sight of me / nor do I ever lose sight of him."
A big archway beside a lake is another important feature of this holy shrine. The Golden Archway is trimmed with blue tiles and five gold lotus blossoms are seen on the top of the arch. These lotus blossoms symbolise spiritual awakening and enlightenment. This arch serving as an entrance to a temple without any walls signifies a universal shrine open to all without any boundaries of race, religion and creed. On the other side of the lake we saw an open shrine called Gandhi World Peace Memorial.A portion of Gandhiji's ashes were kept here in a one thousand year-old
Chinese sarcophagus flanked by two statues of Guan Yin,the Chinese goddess of mercy.The ashes of Mahatma Gandhi had been sent by Dr.V.M.Nawle, a publisher and journalist from Pune and a friend of Swami Yogananda .This is only place where Gandhiji's ashes were seen outside India. Swami Yogananda met Mahatma Gandhi at Wardha in 1935 and at his request initiated him in the science of Kriya yoga.
We saw a boat house on the lake and we were informed that Sri Yogananda used to spend hours together in meditation in this floating residence. The gardens and rocky slopes with dense growth of shrubs around with white swans and ducks on waters present a picturesque view of the lake shrine. The two decked white Missisipi house boat with tiny apartments provides a silent and spiritual retreat for meditation amidst scenic surroundings. We sat in the house boat and spent some time looking at the herons and floating swans.
Later we visited the "Windmill Chapel" a replica of the 16th century Dutch windmill with a residential hall and a wooden bridge over a small lotus pond near it. Here memorial and prayer services are held. Visitors may pray here silently . The photos of Swami Yogananda and his spiritual masters could be seen in the chapel. Before the construction of the new temple prayers and meetings were held in this chapel only. A box was kept there for dropping slips in which one can ask doubts and questions and they would be spiritually answered. Mr. Mc Enroy, asst. superintendent for 20th Century Fox Studios purchased this site filled with water and weeds, and constructed this chapel in the model of a Dutch windmill with a peaked roof and carved figure heads to serve as his temporary residence. There are benches all along the way with quotations form Vedas and other religious books engraved on plaques to make visitors imbibe the essence and universal truths of all spiritual paths with one and same goal that is self-realisation. Here visitors may sit and meditate without any distractions amidst sylvan surroundings.
We were escorted to the new temple on the hill by the custodian who gave a lengthy lecture about philosophy in general .We had to stand nearly for one hour so that a batch of visitors would be led together. After climbing 106 steps we saw the 58-foot high 4000 square-foot temple crowned with a golden lotus.The white octagonal building has a big auditorium with a seating capacity of four hundred persons and is equipped with video facility.There is provision for conducting Sunday school class rooms, and for studying in the book room. As Windmill chapel was not spacious enough to accommodate all people Swami Yogananda expressed his wish that a new shrine should be built. In 1996 this new hill shrine was constructed thereby fulfilling his wish. After reaching the new shrine the custodian gave a lengthy introduction about the training and service-oriented activities of the Self Realization Fellowship organization. On the walls we saw the portraits of Swami Yogananda and his spiritual preceptors. We had to return in the middle of the lecture due to some personal problems. We thought that it would have been better if the custodian had directly approached the topic of Kriya Yoga without her lengthy introductions making most of the visitors feel exhausted.
As we were returning we learnt that once this place had been a barren canyon called Santa ynez. Alphonzo Bell Sr. a real estate magnate bought this land in 1927 and tried to level the canyon. During the levelling process a natural spring-fed lake called Santa ynez lake was formed in the part of the canyon that had not been levelled. Mr.Everett Mc Elroy, Asst.Supdt. of construction for 20th century Fox Studios, purchased the property,cleared the ground,dredged the lake and set up a boat house on the lake as his temporary residence. Later he built a mill house to stay in and rented the boat house for movie stars and other celebrities to stay in. Mc Elroy built another residence in the model of a 16th century Dutch windmill near a pond. In the late 1940's he sold the property to an oil company president who planned to build a hotel complex there. He dreamt three times that his property would become a place to serve as a church of all religions.Referring to the telephone book he learnt that there was only one institution with that name"Self Realisation Fellowship Church of all religions"in Hollywood. He wrote a letter to its founder,Swami Yogananda offering to sell the property. Even before the letter reached him,Swami Yogananda answered the telephone call asking the owner when he could come to see the property offered for sale.Thus as divine providence ordained,the beautiful Lake Shrine was established in 1950 under the masterly supervision of Swami Yogananda who used to stay in the Mississippi house boat and personally saw to the creation of a holy shrine with befitting natural scenery and symbolic patterns near the surrounding Santa Monica hills. We came out of this peaceful retreat which is the meeting point of all religions and races showing a universal path for upliftment of all mankind.
"He who is persistent will realize God. So try your best to make meditation a regular experience in your life."
--(Paramahamsa Yogananda)
20th December, 2011 Soma Gutala
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