Self Realization Fellowship

Los Angeles


When Parmanhansa Yogananda first came to LA from India in the 1920s to spread his yoga love, he set up shop at this beautiful estate, which remains a working monastery that offers stunning views of the Downtown skyline from its garden. The house doors are also open. Peek into the library where you’ll find a number of books by ‘yogiji’ (as he’s affectionately called), as well as his letter opener, robes and locks of his hair.

You'll also find tomes from great philosophers and poets from Plato and Dostoevsky to Gandhi (one of his contemporaries). It's said that if you sit in an area where Yogananda sat for a prolonged period, you may feel his calming vibration – word is that every night before bed he sipped tea on the sofa by the fireplace.