Self-Realization Fellowship

The Self-Realization Fellowship, founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in Boston/Los Angeles (1920), is the Western arm of his kriya-yoga lineage — famous for the Encinitas and Pacific Palisades ashrams and the Lake Shrine temple.

Overview

Yogananda (1893–1952) spoke at the International Congress of Religious Liberals in Boston (1920) and built SRF from small Los Angeles beginnings; Mount Washington (the headquarters, established 1925) became the movement’s seat; the SRF magazine (from 1925) and his Autobiography of a Yogi (1946) carried the teaching.

Core teachings

Kriya Yoga as the “scientific” path; the unity of Eastern yoga and Christian scripture (Yogananda’s Second Coming of Christ commentaries); the guru-disciple line (Babaji-Lahiri Mahasaya-Sri Yukteswar-Yogananda) and the lessons-based home study.

Practice and work

Temples and meditation centers worldwide; the Lessons course; the Lake Shrine (Pacific Palisades, 1950) and Encinitas hermitage as pilgrimage sites; monastic orders of sannyasini and brahmachari members.

Modern status

Led by Brother Chidananda (from 2017); among the most institutionalized yoga lineages in the West; the Autobiography remains a perennial spiritual bestseller.

Verification notes

• Founding (1920) and the institutional history are documented.
• Audited against Wikipedia (September 2026).