Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine

Just inland from the Pacific Coast Highway and easy to miss when you’re rushing to catch the sunset, the mystical, mysterious Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine is run by a non-denominational order that welcomes visitors but doesn’t proselytise to them. Set on a 10-acre site that was used as a film set during the silent era, the lovely gardens evoke old Hollywood: Look out for the Dutch windmill chapel, the Mississippi houseboat and a number of gliding swans. The East, meanwhile, is represented by a gilded lotus gate enclosing a shrine that contains some of Gandhi’s ashes.

Though the 2025 Palisades Fire surrounded the meditation gardens, all of the legacy structures and the gardens remained intact. (A Self-Realization Fellowship community member and volunteer firefighter used the property’s own lake water to protect the gardens from a ring of fire around the perimeter.) After closing for 7 1/2 months of clean-up, the meditation gardens are welcoming visitors again, with the temple and retreat buildings reopening at a later date. In the meantime, you can avail of free guided meditations and docent-led tours of the grounds on weekends.