Self-Realization Fellowship Meditation Gardens in Encinitas preserves the 17-acre clifftop sanctuary that Paramahansa Yogananda established in 1937, overlooking the Pacific from the bluffs above Swami's surf break. The terraced grounds descend through tropical plantings, koi ponds, and shaded meditation alcoves maintained by resident monastics, cultivating the contemplative atmosphere that also anchors the Kriya Yoga tradition practiced at Soul of Yoga. Yogananda wrote his landmark Autobiography of a Yogi within the adjacent hermitage, a text now translated into more than 50 languages that established Encinitas as a global destination for yogic study. The Golden Lotus Tower rising above South Coast Highway 101 has served as the architectural signature of Old Encinitas since the hermitage's 1937 dedication ceremony. Visitors access the gardens from West K Street near the Self Realization Fellowship temple at 939 2nd Street, where weekly services, kirtans, and reading circles continue the lineage alongside the holistic wellness modalities taught at Holistic Zen Acupuncture & Therapeutic Yoga. The gardens span elevation changes from bluff-edge ocean overlooks to sheltered subtropical canopies featuring cycads, staghorn ferns, and a heritage Monterrey pine gifted to Yogananda from the Orient.