When it comes to spirituality, California's got it all from traditional churches to eccentric individuals. Well, all this week, we're featuring the work of student reporters from USC's Annenberg School for Journalism. They've gone on a magical mystery tour of California for us and the first stop is the Lake Shrine Temple in Pacific Palisades. Lindsay Watts reports.
Lindsay Watts>> Drive a few blocks up Sunset from the Pacific Coast Highway and you can go from sixty to zero in just seconds.
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Lindsay Watts>> The Lake Shrine is a meditation garden owned by the Self Realization Fellowship, but you don't have to be a member to enjoy the serenity and natural beauty here.
Brother Atmananda>> This is sort of a sanctuary for people to come to even if they have nothing to do particularly with our organization. This is definitely a place where people come to spiritually recharge and renew.
Kelly Corbin>> It's the difference between grinding your teeth and gritting your fists like this and then you walk around kind of going, "Ah, today's a nice day."
Lindsay Watts>> Self Realization's founder, Paramahansa Yogananda, came from India in the 1920s. He based his fellowship on yoga and meditation designed to bring a deeper connection to God.
Pallavi Vyas>> Self Realization Fellowship is not a traditional religion. It's the science of yoga. It's the science of knowing God and that's what this place is really about.
Lindsay Watts>> The Lake Shrine opened in 1950 and it's had visitors from all over the world, but not everyone comes with spiritual intentions.
Brahmachari Thomas>> We have all kinds of people who come. We had one lady who said she came for about eighteen months before she realized it wasn't a park.
Lindsay Watts>> Self Realization prides itself on being nondenominational. Surrounding the lake, symbols from many world religions. Krishna plays his lute around the corner from a life-sized Jesus perched over a waterfall. This is one of the only places on earth where you can visit the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi here in this thousand year old sarcophagus.
Pallavi Vyas>> I think there is such a strong vibration of the divine out here because I think Yogananda did it with that and I think millions and millions that come here think of God while they're walking around the lake.
Lindsay Watts>> But this is Los Angeles and even this tranquil oasis has received the influence of Hollywood. The land was previously owned by an executive from Twentieth Century Fox. He added a few creative touches to the property that are still around today. This could explain why some aspects of Lake Shrine look more like a movie set than a place of worship.
For example, the houseboat which was featured in a little-known 1930s film. Yogananda slept here as he was building the Lake Shrine. And this, a model of a sixteenth century Dutch windmill. This is where Yogananda held his services. Today those services, complete with chanting, are held at the Hillside Temple. Hundreds of worshipers gather each Sunday.
Paul Fishman>> It's just really something that just really helps me center and introspect.
Michael Dunn>> I'll meditate, you know, for as long a time as I've got in my busy day. In Los Angeles, where you can find a place where you can actually be peaceful for a few minutes is rare.
Brahmachari Thomas>> Yogananda himself said that Los Angeles, the City of the Angels, would become one of the most spiritual cities on the planet in time.
Lindsay Watts>> Los Angeles as a holy city? Well, maybe that's a stretch. But after a visit to the Lake Shrine, you might at least be open to the possibility. For Life and Times, I'm Lindsay Watts.
Val Zavala>> Our thanks again to student journalist, Lindsay Watts. She was part of a program at USC's Annenberg School for Journalism. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. We'll see you next time.
