| Golden Lotus Temple of All Religions in Encinitas |
Article by Richard Wright
Inner Culture, March 1937
First Temple of All Religions in America
A temple of meditation for all religions, reflected in a quiet pool on the hill, is being erected at the present time and will be finished within a few months. Here Shyama Charan Lahiri Mahasaya's statue in alabaster marble, and pictures of Christ and Sri Yukteswarji and Swami Yogananda will decorate the altar. This temple will have a roof overlooking the ocean, where one may go to meditate, and a large four-storied glass tower equipped with a telescope, where one may retire for deep meditation on the united altar of the blue ocean, sky and earth.
Article by Richard Wright
Inner Culture, December 1937
Golden Lotus Temple of All Religions
Dedication Services To Be Held January 2nd
A sincere invitation is extended to Self-Realization Fellowship students and friends all over the country to attend the Formal Opening of the Golden Lotus Temple of All Religions, recently completed by the Fellowship at Encinitas, California. Conceived and designed by Swami Yogananda, who minutely supervised all the building operations, it is the most beautiful and unusual temple ever built by a Hindu in the Western world. The Temple, as distinctive in its own way as the Taj Mahal or the famous Golden Temple of the Sikhs in India, has many unique features, including its commanding situation on a hilltop by-the-sea, its absolutely new golden lotus design, and its representation of non-sectarian, all-inclusive religious sympathies.
Overlooking The Ocean
The Temple is a large building with an open roof and a four storied glass tower overlooking the Pacific Ocean. On the roof scores of students and devotees can sit and meditate on the Infinite in sky and sea. Inside the Temple hundreds can enjoy through the windows an inspiring ocean view. The entire structure is mirrored like a lovely dream in a large pool by the side of the Temple. Palms, olive and other stately trees and rare plants beautify the grounds.
Anyone motoring to San Diego from Los Angeles cannot fail to see in the distance this Temple of All Religions whose gold lotuses glittering in the sunshine or moonlight look like huge flowers floating on the ocean. Domes and steeples are often seen on temples and churches, but never have such large gold lotuses been used on any other temple. Their sparkling glint in the sun is visible for miles around.
Through the immense front window there is presented a glorious view of an ocean-and-sky altar. The blue tile altar beneath the window supports the statutes of Christ, St. Francis, Krishna, Buddha, Zoroaster, Mohammed, Rama, Shankaracharya, and Chaitanya, as well as statutes of Swami Yogananda's Masters, Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Swami Sri Yukteswarji of India. There will be a special place on the altar reserved in honor of all liberated prophets and saints of God.
Significance of Lotus
The lotus is one of the most important symbols of spirituality in India, as its unfolding petals signify the expansion of the soul, and the growth of its pure beauty from the mud of its origin is a beautiful spiritual promise.
The Golden Lotus Temple of All Religions is the first one of its kind in America; as it recognizes Christ, the Masters of India, and all true religionists as devotees of the One God, and thus fosters a recognition of the universal brotherhood of man and Fatherhood of God.
Included on the 17-acre tract is the Yogoda Hermitage, completed one year ago, where Swami Yogananda is engaged in writing his eagerly-awaited book on the wisdom of Christ. Both the Hermitage of Temple are pictured in this issue.
Christmas Celebration
A special Christmas Celebration is planned for the 24th and 25th of December, to be held at the Mount Washington headquarters in Los Angeles and also at the Encinitas estate. The 24th will be passed in meditation, and the following day will be the joyous occasion of festivities and the Christmas Dinner.
Self-Realization Fellowship members and Center leaders are cordially invited to attend these festivities. Those wishing to reserve accommodations at the Mount Washington headquarters in Los Angeles will please write at once to the Secretary.
This will be a rare and momentous occasion in the annals of Self-Realization Fellowship. The combined Christmas festivities and the Formal Opening of the Golden Lotus Temple of All Religions at Encinitas on Sunday, January 2nd, promise a week of delightful spiritual fellowship to all those fortunate enough to be present. The meditation services on December 24th are a blissful experience and many have felt the contact of God on previous similar occasions.
Title of "Paramhansa" Given Swami Yogananda
During Swami Yogananda's visit to India in 1936, after fifteen years' spiritual work in America at the command of his great master, Swami Sri Yukteswarji of Puri, the latter honored him with the title of Paramhansa. Param means "supreme" and hamsa means "soul". It is the highest spiritual title which a divine guru-preceptor can bestow on his disciple. It is never merely a title, given without reason or just in recognition of material service to others. The guru only bestows it on his disciple when the latter has reached a very high state of Cosmic Consciousness, Divine Joy, Wisdom-Bliss and God contact in Self-Realization.
The Divine Swan
Another meaning of hamsa, in the word Paramhamsa, is "swan." The ancient scriptures speak of a fabled swan which when drinking can separate the milk from the water if the two are mixed. In this sense, the title Paramhamsa means the divine swan or he who is able to extract the milk of spiritual bliss from the waters of material life. The swan also floats in water without drowning or getting its feathers wet. So the royal divine swan or Paramhamsa is he who can float on the waters of material life without getting attached to it or drowned in it."
