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Put up the bio w/ sources

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{{Short description|American spiritual organization}}
{{for|the meaning of the term ''self-realization''|Self-realization}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}
{{Infobox organization
|name = Self-Realization Fellowship
|image = SRF-Logo.png
|image_size = 250px
|caption =
|type = [[Religious organization]]
|status = [[Foundation (nonprofit)|Foundation]]
|founder = [[Paramahansa Yogananda]]
|formation = {{Start date and age|1920}}
|purpose = Educational, [[Philanthropic]], [[Religious studies]], [[Spirituality]]
|headquarters = [[Los Angeles, California]], United States<ref name="tbi"/>
|location =
|coordinates = 
|region_served = Worldwide
|leader_title = President
|leader_name = [[Brother Chidananda]]<ref name="LAT-2017"/>
|affiliations = [[Yogoda Satsanga Society of India]]
|website = {{URL|yogananda.org/}}
}}
[[File:Paramahansa Yogananda Standard Pose.jpg|thumb |[[Paramahansa Yogananda]], Founder]]
[[File:SRF Headquarters at 3880 San Rafael Dr..JPG|thumb|Headquarters of SRF at Mt. Washington at 3880 San Rafael Ave., Los Angeles, CA]]

'''Self-Realization Fellowship''' ('''SRF''') is a worldwide religious organization founded in 1920 by [[Paramahansa Yogananda]], the Indian [[guru]] who authored ''[[Autobiography of a Yogi]]''. Before moving to the United States, Yogananda began his spiritual work in India in 1917 and named the organization [[Yogoda Satsanga Society of India]] (YSS).<ref name=LifePositive>{{cite web|title=Paramahansa Yogananda - The Yogi and His Fellowship|last=Bhattacharya|first=Saurabh|url=http://www.lifepositive.com/spirit/masters/paramahansa-yogananda/self-realization.asp|website=lifepositive.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717000259/http://www.lifepositive.com/spirit/masters/paramahansa-yogananda/self-realization.asp|archive-date=17 July 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://yssofindia.org/about |title=About Yogoda Satsanga Society of India }}</ref> He moved to the [[Western world|West]] in 1920 and in 1925 established SRF's headquarters at [[Mount Washington, Los Angeles]], California, US. Before his return visit to India in 1935 he legally incorporated SRF in the United States, designating it as the only organization to carry on his work and disseminate his teachings.<ref name="Melton">{{cite book |last=Melton, J. Gordon |first=Martin Baumann |title=Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2010 |isbn=9781598842043}}</ref><ref name="Williamson">{{cite book |last=Williamson |first=Lola |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yX4VCgAAQBAJ |title=Transcendent in America: Hindu-inspired Meditation Movements as New Religion |date=2010 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-0-8147-9449-4 |location=New York and London |page=}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=154, 227}}

Yogananda's teachings include [[meditation]] techniques intended to promote awareness of [[Yoga (philosophy)#God in Yoga school of Hinduism|God]] and one's [[Ātman (Hinduism)|soul]]. SRF conveys these techniques through a home-study course, and they publish Yogananda's books and lectures. SRF also coordinates the Worldwide Prayer Circle, which prays for world peace and those in need.

==Leadership==
Paramahansa Yogananda founded SRF in 1920 and served as head until his death on 7 March 1952.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last1=Wessinger |first1=Catherine |title=America's Alternative Religions: The Vedanta Movement and the Self-Realization Fellowship |date=1995 |publisher=State University of New York Press |location=Albany, New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=og_u0Re1uwUC&dq=The+Vedanta+Movement+and+the+Self-Realization+Fellowship.&pg=PA173|isbn=0-7914-2398-0 |page=173,179}}</ref><ref name="NYT-2014">{{cite news |title=When Being a Yogi Had an Exotic Air |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=9 October 2014 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/10/movies/awake-about-the-life-of-paramahansa-yogananda.html |access-date=2017-07-07 |last1=Gates |first1=Anita }}</ref><ref name="Melton" /> In 1925, he established the international headquarters for SRF/YSS at Mount Washington in Los Angeles, California.<ref name="Melton" /><ref name=":3">{{cite web |title=International Headquarters |url=https://yogananda.org/locations-international-headquarters |access-date=1 December 2023 |website=Self-Realization Fellowship}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> The three-story building had originally been opened in 1909 as a hotel. SRF now calls it Mother Center. After Yogananda's death, SRF preserved his bedroom in the building as a shrine.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Meares |first=Hadley |date=August 9, 2013 |title=From Hip Hotel to Holy Home: The Self-Realization Fellowship on Mount Washington |url=https://www.pbssocal.org/history-society/from-hip-hotel-to-holy-home-the-self-realization-fellowship-on-mount-washington |access-date=December 1, 2023 |work=PBS SoCal}}</ref><ref name=":3" />

The first president and head of SRF/YSS after Yogananda was [[Rajarsi Janakananda]], who was president until his death on 20 February 1955.<ref>{{cite news |title=Millionaire president of yoga society dies |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/435261802.html?dids=435261802:435261802&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Feb+21%2C+1955&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(1886-Current+File)&edition=&startpage=24&desc=MILLIONAIRE+PRESIDENT+OF+YOGA+SOCIETY+DIES |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021193120/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/435261802.html?dids=435261802:435261802&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Feb+21,+1955&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(1886-Current+File)&edition=&startpage=24&desc=MILLIONAIRE+PRESIDENT+OF+YOGA+SOCIETY+DIES |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 October 2012 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=1955-02-21}}</ref>

[[Daya Mata]] was the next head and president of Self Realization Fellowship/YSS from 1955 until her death on 30 November 2010.<ref>Woo, Elaine (2010-12-03). "Sri Daya Mata dies at 96; led L.A.-based Self-Realization Fellowship". latimes.com, 3 December 2010. Retrieved on 2012-03-16 from http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-sri-daya-mata-20101203,0,6781315.story.</ref> American yoga scholar [[Linda Johnsen]] wrote that Daya Mata was an example of a new wave of women who acquired leadership positions in Hindu spirituality.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sharma |first=Arvind |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dyQpNKH1oOYC&pg=PA130 |title=Today's Woman in World Religions |publisher=SUNY Press |year=1994 |isbn=9780791416884 |page=130}}</ref>

In 2010, [[Mrinalini Mata]] became the next president of SRF/YSS, with the official announcement being on 9 January 2011. She held this position until her death on 3 August 2017.<ref name=LAT-2011>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2011-jan-12-la-me-self-realization-20110112-story.html |title=Self-Realization Fellowship elects Sri Mrinalini Mata as new leader|first=Mitchell |last=Landsberg |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=12 January 2011}}</ref><ref name = Chidananda/><ref>{{cite web |url= https://yogananda.org/a-channel-of-the-gurus-love-and-wisdom |title=In Memoriam: Sri Mrinalini Mata |access-date=2019-09-22}}</ref> She had been chosen by Yogananda to oversee his publications after his death, and she had held the position of SRF/YSS vice-president from 1966 until she became president in 2011.<ref name=LAT-2011/>

On 30 August 2017, [[Brother Chidananda]] was elected as the president by a unanimous vote of the SRF Board of Directors.<ref name = Chidananda>{{Cite web|url=http://www.indiajournal.com/religion/brother-chidananda-is-new-spiritual-leader-of-srf|title=Brother Chidananda is New Spiritual Leader Of SRF |date=17 September 2017|website=India Journal| access-date=4 March 2023}}</ref><ref name=LAT-2017>{{cite web |url=https://yogananda.org/blog/news-srf-announces-new-president|title=Brother Chidananda Elected President and Spiritual Head of SRF/YSS |website=Yogananda.org |access-date=2017-09-03 }}</ref>

=== Monastic order ===
SRF is run by members of its [[Monasticism|monastic]] order,<ref name=":0" /> established by Yogananda in the early 1930s.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Centuries-old Tradition |url=https://yogananda.org/monasticorder#A%20Centuries-old%20Tradition |access-date=2019-09-22 |website=yogananda.org}}</ref> SRF's monks and nuns coordinate the organization's retreats, youth programs, temple services, and publishing and translation efforts.<ref name=":0" /> They also coordinate the Worldwide Prayer Circle, a network of groups and individuals who pray for world peace and those in need.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Santosanada |first1=Brother |date=2011 |title=Yogananda's Kriya Yoga Teachings |journal=Caduceus |volume=Autumn-Winter |issue=82 |page=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Rourke |first1=Mary |date=10 November 1996 |title=Private Talks With God Go Public |work=Los Angeles Times - Life and Style, Section E |publisher=California Times}}</ref>

According to SRF's website, there are four stages of life in the SRF monastic order that represent a deepening commitment to the renunciant life: [[postulancy]], [[novitiate]], [[brahmacharya]], and [[sannyas]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Four Stages of Monastic Life |url=https://yogananda.org/monasticorder#The%20Four%20Stages%20of%20Monastic%20Life |access-date=2019-09-22 |website=yogananda.org}}</ref> Monks and nuns of the SRF Order who take their final renunciant vows are members of the [[Daśanāmi Sampradaya|Swami Order]], which traces its spiritual lineage back to [[Adi Shankara]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Goldberg |first=Philip |title=The Life of Yogananda |publisher=Hay House, Inc. |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-4019-5218-1 |location=Carlsbad, CA |page=76}}</ref>

==Teachings==
{{See also|Paramahansa Yogananda#Teachings}}

Yogananda first introduced his teachings to the West during an international congress of religious leaders held in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1920 in a talk entitled ''The Science of Religion''. Yogananda believed that his methods were [[Testability|testable]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Yogananda|first=Paramahansa |title=The Science of Religion |year=1982 |page=iv|publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship |location= Los Angeles, CA| isbn=978-0-87612-005-7}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite news |last=Netburnstaff |first=Deborah|title=If you practice yoga, thank this man who came to the U.S. 100 years ago|date=19 November 2020 |location=Los Angeles |work=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-11-19/self-realization-fellowship-paramahansa-yogananda-los-angeles-history}}</ref> The dissemination of his teachings continues through SRF,<ref>{{cite book |last=Goldberg |first=Philip |title=American Veda |publisher=Harmony |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-385-52135-2 |edition=1 |pages=109}}</ref> which he [[Incorporation (business)|incorporated]] in 1935 as a nonprofit religious organization.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{wikisource-inline|SRF Articles of Incorporation 1935}}</ref> According to author Lola Williamson in her book, ''Transcendent in America: Hindu-inspired Meditation Movements as New Religion'', "He (Yogananda) made it clear that his teachings were to be shared through Self-Realization Fellowship and not through rogue organizations that taught in his name."<ref name="Williamson" />{{Rp|page=227}}

Yogananda's autobiography contains a list of aims and ideals for SRF; the first of these is to disseminate "scientific techniques for attaining direct personal experience of God". Another is "to advocate cultural and spiritual understanding between East and West".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yogananda |first=Paramahansa |title=[[Autobiography of a Yogi]] |publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship |year=1998 |edition=13th |pages=481 |author-link=Paramahansa Yogananda}}</ref> SRF teaches methods of concentration and meditation, including a technique called ''[[Kriya Yoga school|kriya yoga]]'', for the purpose of attaining what Yogananda called ''Self-realization''. Yogananda used this term to signify the realization of one's true Self or [[Ātman (Hinduism)|soul]]. SRF presents Eastern and Western religious teachings as essentially one and the same, including passages from both the [[Bhagavad Gita]] and the [[Christianity|Christian]] [[New Testament]] in its services.<ref name=":0" /> SRF also publishes Yogananda's works, which include his home-study lessons, autobiography, lectures, and recorded talks.<ref name="Melton" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Yogananda |first=Paramahansa |title=God Talks With Arjuna |year=1995 |publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship; 1st edition |page=427}}</ref><ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=187}}

SRF funded the 2014 documentary ''[[Awake: The Life of Yogananda]]'', which was co-directed by Paola Di Florio and Lisa Leeman.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rechtshaffen |first1=Michael |title='Awake' a vivid glimpse of West's 1st meditation guru |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-awake-movie-yogananda-review-20141017-story.html |access-date=13 May 2023 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=16 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Lewis |first1=David |title=Movie review: 'Yogananda' gave yoga, meditation to America |url=https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Movie-review-An-introduction-to-Yogananda-5827086.php |access-date=13 May 2023 |work=SF Gate |publisher=San Francisco Chronicle |date=16 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Gates|first1=Anita|title= When Being a Yogi Had an Exotic Air - 'Awake,' About the Life of Paramahansa Yogananda |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/10/movies/awake-about-the-life-of-paramahansa-yogananda.html|work=New York Times|date=9 October 2014 |accessdate=5 May 2023|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428231455/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/10/movies/awake-about-the-life-of-paramahansa-yogananda.html|archivedate=28 April 2023}}</ref>

=== Kriya Yoga ===
{{Main|Kriya Yoga school}}
SRF initiates prepared students in a technique called ''kriya yoga'' that it teaches hastens the process of spiritual awakening.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=183}} Through deep and regular practice, the technique is supposed to withdraw one's energy and attention from distracting thoughts, emotions, and stimuli, so that one may experience peace and attunement with God in the resulting stillness.<ref name=":0" /> SRF requires aspiring disciples first to undertake a home-study course called the ''SRF Lessons'', compiled from Yogananda's teachings. In keeping with [[Guru–shishya tradition|Upanishadic tradition]], recipients of SRF's lessons pledge not to share the contents with others. In SRF, learning the ''kriya yoga'' technique is seen as ''[[diksha]]'' (initiation) by the [[guru]] (Yogananda), and it involves an initiation rite conducted by an authorized representative. SRF sends disciples printed ''kriya yoga'' lessons even if they cannot attend the rite.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=183}}

==Temples, retreats, and other facilities==
[[File:SelfRealizationFellowship.jpg|thumb|Gateway to the Self-Realization Fellowship Temple in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] in central [[Los Angeles, California]]]]
[[File:Yogananda Center - Lake and Swan.jpg|thumb|[[Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine|SRF Lake Shrine]] looking toward the golden lotus-topped Gandhi memorial on Sunset Blvd., [[Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles]], California]]

Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) has over 600 temples and meditation centers in 62 countries.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="Sahagun" /> There are eight temples in the United States, seven in [[California]] and one in [[Arizona]]:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Temples, Retreats & Ashrams {{!}} Self-Realization Fellowship |url=https://yogananda.org/locations-temples-retreats-ashrams |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=Self Realization Fellowship |language=en-US}}</ref>

* Bay Area Temple, [[Walnut Creek, California|Walnut Creek]]
* [[Encinitas, California|Encinitas]] Temple
* [[Fullerton, California|Fullerton]] Temple
* [[Glendale, California|Glendale]] Temple
* [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] Temple
* Lake Shrine Temple, [[Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles|Pacific Palisades]]
* [[San Diego]] Temple
* [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] Temple

SRF also runs retreat centers:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Retreats {{!}} Self-Realization Fellowship |url=https://yogananda.org/events-programs-retreats |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=Self Realization Fellowship |language=en-US}}</ref>

* [[Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine|Lake Shrine]] in Pacific Palisades, CA
* Hidden Valley Ashram (for men) in [[Escondido, California|Escondido, CA]]
* Greenfield Retreat (for women) in [[Front Royal, Virginia]]
* Bermersbach Retreat in [[Germany]]
* Armação Retreat in [[Santa Catarina (state)|Santa Catarina]], Brazil.

SRF has a sister organization in India called [[Yogoda Satsanga Society of India]] (YSS), founded by Yogananda in 1917 and headquartered in [[Dakshineswar]] (near Calcutta).<ref>{{cite news |last=Juergensmeyer |first=Mark |date=18 October 2011 |title=Encyclopedia of Global Religion |pages=1145 |work=University of California |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WwJzAwAAQBAJ&q=Yogoda+Satsanga+Society+of+India&pg=PA1145 |access-date=2017-07-16 |isbn=9781452266565}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Constance |url=http://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofhi0000jone_r9k7 |title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |publisher=New York : Checkmark Books, an imprint of Infobase Publishing |others=Internet Archive |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8160-7336-8 |pages=392–393}}</ref> YSS oversees 200 ''kendras'', ''mandalis'', retreats, and ashrams throughout India and Nepal,<ref>{{cite web |title=YSS Ashrams and Centres |url=https://yssofindia.org/ashrams |access-date=26 November 2023 |website=yssofindia.org}}</ref> along with more than 20 educational and medical facilities.<ref name=":0" />

[[File:SRF ashram on the point at Swamis.JPG|thumb|A 2007 view looking north along Swami's beach in Encinitas, the red-roofed building on top of the point is the hermitage where Yogananda wrote ''Autobiography of a Yogi'']]

=== Encinitas Hermitage ===
{{Main|Self-Realization Fellowship Encinitas Hermitage and Meditation Gardens}}
After his return from India in 1936, Yogananda took up residence at the SRF hermitage in [[Encinitas, California]], which was a surprise gift from his disciple [[Rajarsi Janakananda]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Goldberg|first=Philip |title=The Life of Yogananda |year=2018 |page=232|publisher=Hay House, Inc. |location= Carlsbad, CA|isbn=978-1-4019-5218-1 }}</ref> While at this hermitage Yogananda wrote ''[[Autobiography of a Yogi]]'' and other works.<ref>{{cite book |last=Goldberg|first=Philip |title=The Life of Yogananda |year=2018 |page=263|publisher=Hay House, Inc. |location= Carlsbad,CA|isbn=978-1-4019-5218-1 }}</ref> The property includes an [[ashram]].<ref name="SDM">{{Cite magazine |last=O'Shea |first=Diedre |date=March 2005 |title=When the Spirit moves us / There are all these little places |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6P8DAAAAMBAJ&q=Encinitas+Gardens+of+Self+Realization+Fellowship+Hermitage+temple&pg=RA1-PA279 |magazine=[[San Diego Magazine]] |page=279}}</ref>

=== Hollywood Temple ===
On 30 August 1942, Yogananda opened the SRF Hollywood Temple on Sunset Blvd., [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], California. It is the oldest SRF temple in the US. According to Phil Goldberg, Yogananda dedicated it to "the ideal of human brotherhood and the definite realization of God as the One Father of all mankind."<ref name="Temples">{{cite book |last=Goldberg|first=Philip |title=The Life of Yogananda |year=2018 |pages=258–260|publisher=Hay House, Inc. |location= Carlsbad, CA|isbn=978-1-4019-5218-1 }}</ref> [[Meghan, Duchess of Sussex|Meghan Markle's]] parents, [[Doria Ragland]] and [[Thomas Markle|Thomas Markle Sr.]], were married by Brother Bhaktananda at the Hollywood Temple on 23 December 1979.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/lifestyle/celebrity/story/did-you-know-meghan-markle-s-parents-got-married-at-an-indian-temple-1241404-2018-05-25 |title=Did you know Meghan Markle's parents got married at an Indian temple?|last=Chhabra |first=Shivani |work=India Today |date=25 May 2018 |access-date=26 May 2018 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

=== Lake Shrine ===
{{Main|Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine}}
The Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine is located on [[Sunset Boulevard]] in [[Pacific Palisades, California]]. It was dedicated by Yogananda on 20 August 1950<ref name="Temples" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lakeshrine.org/ |title=Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine |website=lakeshrine.org |access-date=5 March 2022}}</ref> as a 10-acre spiritual center honoring the five major world religions. It is set in a hillside amphitheater with gardens and a spring-fed lake, and it is home to [[swan]]s, [[duck]]s, [[koi]], water turtles, [[Lotus (plant)|lotus]] flowers, a Dutch-style windmill, and a golden lotus archway that is painted white and topped with gold lotus blossoms.<ref name="Temples" /> The archway frames the [[Mahatma Gandhi]] World Peace Memorial, an outdoor shrine wherein a 1,000-year-old Chinese [[sarcophagus]] holds a portion of Mahatma Gandhi's ashes.<ref name="Temples" /><ref>{{cite news |last=O'Connor |first=Pauline|title=Pacific Palisades|date=26 June 2008 |location=Los Angeles |work=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jun-26-gd-neighbors26-story.html}}</ref>

[[File:SRF San Diego Cypress Trees.jpg|alt=SRF San Diego - Cypress trees|thumb|A view of Cypress trees at SRF San Diego Temple hand planted by Paramahansa Yogananda]]

=== San Diego Temple ===
Yogananda established the San Diego Temple in [[Bankers Hill, San Diego]], on 5 September 1943, during [[World War II]]. The front walkway of the temple is lined with cypress trees planted by Yogananda.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sandiegotemple.org/about/|title=Self-Realization Fellowship - San Diego Temple |website=sandiegotemple.org |access-date=12 April 2023}}</ref> In 1945, [[Mrinalini Mata]], then fourteen-year-old Merna Brown, first met Yogananda at this temple, and a year later, entered the ashram in Encinitas.<ref name="Temples" />

=== Twentynine Palms ===
Yogananda spent most of the last four years of his life in seclusion at his desert ashram in Twentynine Palms, California, with some of his closest disciples. He completed his writings there, including the revisions of his books, articles, and previous lessons.<ref name="Gita">{{cite book |last=Yogananda |first=Paramahansa |title=God Talks With Arjuna - The Bhagavad Gita |page=xii |year=1995 |publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship |location=Los Angeles, California |isbn=0-87612-030-3}}</ref><ref name="Temples" />

==Reception, views and controversies==
As of 1992, SRF had several hundred thousand members. It has had widespread influence through its publications, but it has struggled to preserve the confidentiality of the lessons from its home-study course – similar lessons have been provided by unaffiliated sources. SRF responded by including in its publications a copyright statement and a certification that SRF is the society founded by Yogananda to convey his teachings.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|pages=186–187}}

=== Celebrity involvement ===
[[George Harrison]] frequently cited SRF's founder, Yogananda, as an important spiritual influence;<ref>{{cite magazine|author=((Appleford, Eliscu, Saraceno))|date=14 February 2002 |title=Harrison still giving to charity |magazine=Rolling Stone|issue=889 |location=New York}}</ref><ref name="NYT-2014" /><ref name="tbi">{{cite web |last=Pal |first=Sanchari |title=The Story of Paramahansa Yogananda,the Man Who Took Yoga Beyond Indian Shores |url=http://www.thebetterindia.com/59103/paramahansa-yogananda-international-yoga-day/ |access-date=2017-07-10 |work=thebetterindia.com|date=21 June 2016 }}</ref> on visits to Los Angeles, Harrison spent time at the SRF retreat in Encinitas.<ref>{{cite news |last=Green, Joshua M. |year=2006 |title=George Harrison's Spiritual Life |publisher=[[Hinduism Today]] January, February, March 2006 issue |location=New York |url=https://www.hinduismtoday.com/magazine/january-february-march-2006/2006-01-george-harrison-s-spiritual-life/}}</ref><ref name="NYT-2014" /><ref name="tbi" /> According to Straight Arrow Press, in the United States the "proceeds from the January 14, 2002, reissue of George Harrison's 1970 song ''[[My Sweet Lord]]'' will go to the Self-Realization Fellowship".<ref>{{cite book |title=The George Harrison Encyclopedia |pages=120 |publisher=Virgin Books |isbn=978-0-7535-0822-0 |last1=Harry |first1=Bill |year=2003}}</ref> His funeral was held at SRF's Lake Shrine.<ref name=":4" />

[[Ravi Shankar]] had met Yogananda in the 1930s and gave his first U.S. concert at the SRF Encinitas Retreat, Encinitas, California in 1957.<ref name="NYT-2014" /><ref name="tbi" />

[[Elvis Presley]] often visited SRF in the late 1960s. According to Louis Sahagun of the LA Times, [[Bruce Mars|Brother Paramananda]], "who left a promising acting career to devote his life to the fellowship", said that Elvis had once said to him: "Man, you made the right choice. People don't know my life or that I sometimes cry myself to sleep because I don't know God."<ref name="Sahagun">{{cite news |last=Sahagun |first=Louis|title=Guru's Followers Mark Legacy of a Star's Teachings|date=6 August 2006 |location=Los Angeles |work=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-aug-06-me-swami6-story.html}}</ref>

=== Lawsuit with Kriyananda ===
{{See also|Kriyananda#Legal cases}}
In 1990, SRF filed suit against James Donald Walters (aka [[Kriyananda]]) and his organization, Ananda Church of Self-Realization, regarding Ananda's use of ''Self-Realization'' in their name and their use of specific writings, photographs and recordings of Paramahansa Yogananda. According to Louis Sahagún of the Los Angeles Times, SRF wanted "to secure exclusive rights to Yogananda's teachings, name, likeness, voice and use of the term 'self-realization'". The litigation continued from 1990 to 2002, when the final jury trial was held in the [[US District Court for the Eastern District of California]]. Jurors ultimately agreed with Self-Realization Fellowship's argument that Yogananda had repeatedly made his intentions clear before dying – he wanted the Fellowship to maintain copyrights to his works. The court ordered Ananda to pay about [[US$]]29,000 to SRF for its earnings from SRF's sound recordings, and a judge suggested that Ananda not remove ''Ananda'' from its name, to which it agreed. However, the court did not require Ananda to pay damages for using written works for educational or religious purposes. It also determined that the terms ''Paramahansa Yogananda'' and ''self-realization'' could not be trademarked.<ref name="jury">{{cite news | first =Doug | last =Mattson | title=Jury: Copyrights violated by church | location =Grass Valley, CA | newspaper=[[The Union (newspaper)|The Union]]| date= 30 October 2002}}</ref><ref name="Sahagun" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last=Edy |first=Carolyn |date=June 2003 |title=Who Owns Yogananda? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vOkDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26 |journal=Yoga Journal |issue=174 |pages=26 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

=== Paternity claim ===
Ben Erskine claimed that Yogananda was probably his father; his mother having been a disciple of Yogananda's in the late 1920s. Erskine's daughter Peggy made paternity claims and financial demands, but DNA tests determined that there was no blood relationship between Yogananda and Erskine.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Watanabe |first1=Teresa |title=DNA Clears Yoga Guru in Seven-Year Paternity Dispute |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jul-11-me-guru11-story.html |access-date=11 May 2023 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=11 July 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Goldberg|first=Philip |title=American Veda |year=2012 |publisher=Harmony|edition = 1|isbn=978-0-385-52135-2 |pages= 246–247}}</ref>

=== SRF expansion project ===
SRF submitted a draft of their expansion project for its headquarters atop Mt. Washington, Los Angeles, CA, planning, over a 30-year period, the construction of a "museum, additional office space, classrooms, counseling facilities, underground parking and more living quarters for cloistered monks and nuns…",<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ramos |first1=George |title=City Report Spurs Debate on Church's Planned Expansion |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-apr-28-me-24422-story.html |access-date=12 May 2023 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=28 April 2000}}</ref> but withdrew the plan when it realized it did not have widespread support from local residents.<ref name="Williamson" />{{Rp|page=73}}

==Bibliography==
{{main| Paramahansa Yogananda bibliography}}

== See also ==
* [[Lahiri Mahasaya]]
* [[New religious movement]]
* [[Yukteswar Giri]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{citation |title=The Social Significance of a Western Belief in Reincarnation: A Qualitative Study of the Self-Realization Fellowship |first=Jane Robinson |last=Dillon |publisher=Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of California, San Diego. |year=1998 |oclc=39462309}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Self-Realization Fellowship}}

* {{Official website|https://yogananda.org/}}
* {{Wikisource-inline|SRF Articles of Incorporation 1935}}

{{Paramahansa Yogananda|state=expanded}}
{{Hindu reform movements}}
{{New Religious Movements}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Hindu new religious movements]]
[[Category:International Hindu organizations]]
[[Category:Yoga organizations]]
[[Category:Paramahansa Yogananda]]
[[Category:Religious buildings and structures in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Mount Washington, Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Non-profit organizations based in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Religious organizations established in 1920]]
[[Category:1920 establishments in California]]

Self-Realization Fellowship - Revision history

RicoSturdivant: Put up the bio w/ sources