Several times a year I like to get away for a retreat. My favorite spot is the SRF Lake Shrine. The Lake Shrine is incredibly beautiful and has a wide variety of flowers, plants and trees from all over the world. It is also a very spiritual place. As soon as you walk into the gardens you feel incredible peace and safety from the world. It is like an oasis, perhaps like the Garden of Eden, but right in the middle of Los Angeles off of Sunset Boulevard! Ok, well actually it’s in Pacific Palisades, CA, but close enough to LA!

Last week I was lucky enough to spend the weekend at the Lake Shrine and I tried to capture a little bit of that peace. The Lake Shrine gardens were the vision of Paramahansa Yogananda who started Self-Realization Fellowship. He emphasized the unity of all religions, and wanted the Lake to be a place where people of all religions would feel welcome.  He created the Lake Shrine to be a place where people could come and enjoy the beauty of the gardens and sit to meditate for a while and feel the presence of God. So you will see from my photos that many religions are represented throughout the gardens.

Windmill Chapel. A reproduction of a 16th-century dutch windmill.

Statue of St. Francis.

Houseboat where Paramahansa Yogananda spent hours in prayer and meditation during his lifetime.

Gandhi World Peace Memorial. Gandhi once took instruction from Paramahansa Yogananda in Kriya Yoga.

Gandhi World Peace Memorial where a portion of Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes have been enshrined. The sarcophagus and statues of Kwan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy or Chinese representation of the Mother aspect of God on either side were brought from China.

Looking out across the lake from the wall-less temple.

Statue of Bhagavan Krishna. “He who perceives Me everywhere and beholds everything in Me, never loses sight of Me, nor do I lose sight of him.”

Statue of Kwan Yin.

Statue of Christ. A waterfall comes down directly in front of the statue which is lit at night.

Court of All Religions.

Islam

Christianity

Buddhism

Hinduism

Statue of Madonna and Child.