The Brief

The Pacific Palisades’ Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine, a sanctuary for spiritual seekers, has reopened to the public after a lengthy recovery and remediation process.

The Lake Shrine is tucked away off Sunset Boulevard near the Palisades coast and narrowly escaped being burned in the Palisades Fire in January. It reopened Wednesday, and the shrine’s leaders hope it can provide a sanctuary for the fire-ravaged neighborhood, along with any other visitors who stop by for the peace and quiet.

The boat was used in old silent movie productions. The memorial in the background houses some of Mahatma Gandhi's ashes.

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Saving the shrine

As it turns out, some foresight and a convenient water source are why the Lake Shrine managed to reopen just months after the devastating Palisades Fire. The shrine’s minister-in-charge Brother Satyananda told LAist that a new pumping system had been installed in advance of the fire.

“ We defended our own property here with our water from the lake, and it proved to be more effective than we ever imagined,” he said.

As the Palisades Fire raged on, volunteer firefighters affiliated with the shrine worked day and night to put out spot fires, even as hydrants failed to work due to water pressure issues and firefighters were dealing with unprecedented demand.

That firefighting process lasted about a week, Satyananda said. In the end, the shrine’s major historical assets were all saved.

But the Self-Realization Fellowship’s land didn’t make it out unscathed.

Some buildings used as dormitories were lost, including one where Brother Satyananda had slept, along with a Waldorf school on the fellowship’s property. Though those lots have been cleared, Satyananda said what the fellowship will do with them “still remains to be discussed and decided.”

Recovery and reopening

Visitors may notice the recovery still is a work in progress despite the reopening. Though the grounds and indoor spaces near the lake are open to the public, remediation work still has to be done on the shrine’s temple, perched higher up in the hills.

“There'll still be work going on in the background, but we'll have a nice quiet space for people to appreciate the value,” Satyananda said.

The path along the Lake Shrine takes visitors around the property. At a few points, like here, some burn scars from the Palisades Fire can be seen in the surrounding hills.

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“Some of our neighbors have said when they come here, ‘Oh wow, it doesn't seem like any disaster ever happened here,’” Satyananda said.

The swans that call the lake home, named Shobha and Shanti, were nearly as quick to bounce back. They got blanketed with ash along with the rest of the lake, and Satyananda said their feathers were nearly black.

Shobha, meaning "radiance," is the younger of the two swans at about 15 months old.

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Shanti, meaning "peace" in Sanskrit, is about two years old.

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It took careful scrubbing to clean the swans, which was possible in large part because the swans knew and trusted the Lake Shrine’s ministers and staff, not to mention their stain-resistant feathers.

The shrine’s history

The site originally was a quarry used to extract building materials for roads in the early 1900s, before Los Angeles was anywhere close to the metropolis we know today. The mining stopped after workers hit the water table, which filled up the surrounding area and created the lake that you still can see today.

The lake passed through a number of hands, including some who developed the property for use as sets in the burgeoning film industry. You still can see a boat docked, and a Dutch-style windmill on the site has been repurposed into a chapel.

The windmill was once used in silent film productions in the early days of Hollywood.

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After the Self-Realization Fellowship acquired the land in 1950, it became a base for its founder, Paramahansa Yogananda, and his spiritual teachings. They proved very influential in California’s spiritual spheres throughout the 20th century. Yogananda is notable for embracing universal elements from all religions in his work: One of his best-known books is titled “The Yoga of Jesus.”

Yogananda’s influence lasted long after his death in 1952. The Self-Realization Fellowship’s Lake Shrine is just one of dozens of locations around the world, and some of the most influential figures in the world have counted themselves as devotees. Just one example: The late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs gifted copies of Yogananda’s autobiography to the people who attended his funeral, according to CNN.

One of several spiritual quotes you'll encounter walking around the Lake Shrine.

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The Lake Shrine’s significance

In keeping with Yogananda’s beliefs, the shrine is interfaith — you’ll see quotations and markers representing major world religions as you walk around.

The path is circular, meant to inspire reflection on spiritual principles, and there are lots of stopping points for meditation. Satyananda, told LAist that some of the Shrine’s regular visitors have specific spots that they prefer to sit and meditate.

Many of the shrine's meditation benches pay tribute to its wildlife.

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Another bench that pays tribute to the shrine's wildlife.

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One of the stopping points along the way is the shrine’s Gandhi World Peace memorial, which has a 1,000-year-old sarcophagus that holds some of Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes. The Self-Realization Fellowship says they’re the only portion of his ashes outside India.

The ashes were sent to Yogananda because he was a close personal friend of Gandhi. Yogananda was also — fun fact — the driving force who brought yoga to Los Angeles (and the country).

This sarcophagus contains a portion of Gandhi's ashes.

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“ We see that in all different kinds of people, the location invokes kind of a natural reverence," Satyananda said. “In the East, meditating in front of a calm body of water is historically symbolic because there's the calmness of the surface, and as you sit quietly and gaze on it, it quiets the mind.”

Brother Satyananda meditates on one of the Lake Shrine's benches.

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He hopes that by reopening the Lake Shrine, he can bring a measure of peace back to the fire-stricken neighborhood.

“I think everybody in the Palisades agrees that this is a time of change,” Satyananda said. “ What I'm seeing as a counselor is people that have been meditating, they have resilience and they tend to bounce back. There's the shock, there's the trauma, but they bounce back rather quickly.”

How to visit

The Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine is now open from Wednesday through Sunday. Visitors have two options: A morning visit at 10 a.m. or an early afternoon visit at 1 p.m.

Advance registrations are required to visit.

Reservations open at 10 a.m. Saturdays for the week ahead. For more information, see the Lake Shrine’s website.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Since 1977, Richard Santillan has been to every Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium. 

“The tradition goes from my father, to me, to my children and grandchildren. Some of my best memories are with my father and children here at Dodger Stadium,” Santillan told The LA Local, smiling under the shade of palm trees near the entrance to the ballpark Wednesday morning. He was there to protest the team less than 24 hours before Opening Day.

Santillan, like countless other loyal Dodgers fans, is grappling with his fan identity over the team’s decision to accept an invitation to the White House and owner Mark Walter’s ties to ICE detention facilities.

More than 30 people joined Santillan on Wednesday morning for a press conference held near 1000 Vin Scully Drive to convey a message directly to the team. 

“We are demanding the Dodgers stop participating in funding of inhumane treatment of families and do not go to the White House to celebrate with the criminal in chief,” Evelyn Escatiola told the crowd. “Together, we have the power to make a change.”

Escatiola, a former dean of East Los Angeles College and longtime community organizer, urged fans to flex their economic power by “letting the Dodgers know that we do not support repression.”

Jorge “Coqui” Rodriguez, a lifelong Dodgers fan, spoke to the crowd and called on Dodgers ownership to divest from immigration detention centers owned and operated by GEO Group and CoreCivic.

Jorge Coqui H Rodriguez speaks at a press conference outside Dodger Stadium on March 25, 2026, to demand the Dodgers not to visit the White House following their 2025 World Series win.

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In a phone interview a day before the protest, Rodriguez told The LA Local he did not want the Dodgers using his “cheve” or beer money to fund detention centers. 

“They can’t take our parking money, our cacahuate money, our cheve money, our Dodger Dog money and invest those funds into corporations that are imprisoning people. It’s wrong,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez considers the Dodgers one of the most racially diverse teams and said the players need to support fans at a time when heightened immigration enforcement has become more common across L.A.

The team’s 2025’s visit to the White House drew ire from the largely Latino fan base, citing the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on immigrants. 

In June, the team came under further scrutiny when rumors swirled online that federal immigration agents were using the stadium’s parking, which immigration authorities later denied in statements posted on social media accounts.

The team again came under fire after not releasing a statement on the impacts of ICE raids on its mostly Latino fan base at the height of immigration enforcement last summer. The team later agreed to invest $1 million to support families affected by immigration enforcement.

When he learned the Dodgers were pledging only $1 million to families in need, Rodriguez called the amount a  “slap in the face.” 

“These guys just bought the Lakers for billions of dollars and they give a million dollars to fight for legal services? That’s a joke,” Rodriguez said. “They need to have a moral backbone and not be investing in those companies.”

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershawsaid last week that he is looking forward to the trip.

“I went when President [Joe] Biden was in office. I’m going to go when President [Donald] Trump is in office,” Kershaw said. “To me, it’s just about getting to go to the White House. You don’t get that opportunity every day, so I’m excited to go.”

The Dodgers have yet to announce when their planned visit will take place. 

Santillan sometimes laments his decision to give up his season tickets in protest of the team. His connection to the stadium and the memories he has made there with family and friends will last a lifetime, he said. On Thursday, he will uphold his tradition and be there for the first pitch of the season, but with a heavy heart.

“It’s a family tradition, but the Dodgers have a lot of work to do,” he said.

A local favorite mom-and-pop bookshop in Eagle Rock is facing displacement due to a steep rent hike. The owners say theirs is just one of several small businesses along Eagle Rock Boulevard struggling to keep up with lease increases.

Over the past 19 years, many in the neighborhood have come to love READ Books for its eclectic collection of used titles and shop dog Florence.

Co-owner Jeremy Kaplan said it’s been a delight to grow with the community over the years.

“Like seeing kids come back in, who were in grade school and now they’re in college,” Kaplan said.

But the building where Kaplan and wife Debbie rent was recently sold, and the rent increased by more than 130% to $2,805 a month, Kaplan said. He told LAist it was an increase his small business simply could not absorb.

Kaplan said he originally was given 30 days notice of the rent increase. After some research, assistance from Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s office and some pro-bono legal help, Kaplan said he pushed back and got the 90-day notice he’s afforded by state law.

California Senate Bill 1103 requires landlords to give businesses with five or less employees 90 days’ notice for rent increases exceeding 10%, among other protections.

Systems Real Estate, the property management company, did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

What can small businesses do? 

Nadia Segura, directing attorney of the Small Business Program at pro bono legal aid non-profit Bet Tzedek said California law does not currently allow for rent control for commercial tenancies.

Outside of the protections under SB 1103, Segura said small businesses like READ Books don’t have much other recourse. And even then, commercial landlords are not required to inform their tenants of their protections under the law.

“There’s still a lot of people that don’t know about SB 1103. And then it’s very sad that they tell them they have these rent increases and within a month they have to leave,” Segura said.

She said her group is seeing steep rent hikes like this for commercial tenants across the city.

“We are seeing this even more with the World Cup coming up, the Olympics coming up. And I will say it was very sad to see that also after the wildfires,” Segura said.

Part of Bet Tzedek’s ongoing work is to advocate for small businesses, working with landlords who are increasing rents to see if they are willing to give business owners longer leases that lock in rents.

What’s next 

After READ Books posted about their situation on social media, commenters chimed in to express their outrage and love for the little shop.

While he looks for a new spot, Kaplan says he’s forming a coalition of local businesses and activist groups to see what can be done to help other small businesses facing similar displacement. He wants to address the displacement issue for businesses like his, which have made Eagle Rock the distinctive neighborhood that it is today.

Owl Talk, a longtime Eagle Rock staple selling clothing and accessories in a unit in the same building as READ Books, is facing a “more than double” rent increase, according to a post on their Instagram account.

Kaplan said he’s been in touch with the office of state Assemblywoman Jessica Caloza and wants to explore the possibility of introducing legislation to set up protections for small businesses like his, including rent-control measures or a vacancy tax for landlords. Kaplan said he also reached out to the office of state Sen. Maria Durazo.

By his count, Kaplan said there are about a dozen businesses within surrounding blocks that are at risk of closing their doors or have shuttered due to rent increases or other struggles.

When READ Books was founded during the Great Recession, Kaplan said he knew it was a longshot to open a bookstore at the same time so many were struggling to stay in business.

“It was kind of interesting to be doing something that neighborhoods needed. That was important to me growing up, that was important to my children, that was important to my wife growing up,” Kaplan said.

“And then somebody comes in and says, ‘We’re gonna over double your rent.”

Topline:

Frozen budget: Most of the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting budget comes from an assessment that people who own property illuminated by lights pay on their county property tax bill. The amount people pay depends on the kind of property they own and how much they benefit from lighting. A typical single-family home currently pays $53 annually, and in total, the assessments bring in about $45 million annually for the city to repair and maintain streetlights. Changing the amount the Bureau of Street Lighting gets from the assessment requires a vote among property owners who benefit from the lights.

Ballots: L.A. City Council’s vote gives city staff the green light to prepare and send out those ballots. Miguel Sangalang, who oversees the bureau, said at a committee meeting earlier this month that he expects to send out ballots by April 17. Notices about the ballots will be sent out prior to the ballots themselves.

Near unanimous vote: L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was the only “No” vote Tuesday, saying she wanted to see a more current strategic plan for the bureau. Sangalang said the bureau developed a plan in 2022 that lays out how money will be spent. Councilmember Imelda Padilla was absent for the vote.

Vote count: Votes will be weighted according to the assessment amount. Basically, the more you’re asked to pay yearly to maintain streetlights, the more your vote will count. Ballots received before June 2 will be tabulated by the L.A. City Clerk.

How much more money: According to a report, the amount needed in assessments from property owners to meet the repair and maintenance needs of the city’s streetlighting in the next fiscal year is nearly $112 million.

Use of the money: Sangalang said at a March 11 committee meeting that the extra funds would be used to double the number of staff to handle repairs and procure solar streetlights, which don’t face the threat of copper wire theft. That would all potentially reduce the time it takes to repair simple fixes down to a week. Currently, city residents wait for months to see broken streetlights repaired. The assessment would come with a three-year auditing mechanism.