Encinitas: Our History and People

G
PARAMAHANSA
YOGANANDA
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE SELF REALIZATION
FELLOWSHIP
Paramahansa Yogananda, author of the
modern spiritual classic Autobiography of a Yogi
and widely regarded as the father of Yoga in the
West, contributed in far-reaching ways to a
greater awareness and appreciation in the West
of the spiritual wisdom of the East. Arriving in
America from his native India in 1920 as a
delegate to an International Congress of
Religious Liberals, he established Self-
Realization Fellowship that same year to
disseminate worldwide his teachings on India’s
ancient philosophy of Yoga and its timehonored
science of meditation.
Autobiography of a Yogi, Yogananda’s life story,
was published in 1946 and expanded by him in
subsequent editions. Recognized from the
beginning as a landmark work in its field, the
book has been honored as one of the 100 best
spiritual books of the 20 th century, and remains
one of the most important, and most readable,
works on Yoga and Eastern spiritual thought.
The City of Encinitas named a park and beach
in honor of Yogananda, called Swami’s, as he was
affectionately known. The park adjoins the SRF
Retreat center, where he enjoyed spending time.
He was born on January 5, 1893 in
Gorakhpur, India, and passed away on March
7, 1952 in Los Angelos, California.
G
RICHARD
DREYFUSS
Richard Dreyfuss’ star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame.
DEPOSITPHOTOS 29285901
COPYRIGHT: SAINANIRITU
Richard Dreyfuss, a mainstay of American
cinema known for his roles in classic films such as
American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third
Kind, and Mr. Holland’s Opus. In 1977, he became
the youngest man to win the Best Actor Oscar for
the role of Elliot Garfield in The Goodbye Girl. Now
in his seventies, Dreyfuss remains active today.
Dreyfuss heads the Encinitas-based Dreyfuss
Civics Initiative, a nonprofit which aims to prioritize
civics education in the American public school
system. In support for the program, Dreyfuss makes
occasional public appearances, by which he
proclaims the need for students to learn civic virtue
as a means to better the nation. To bolster his own
understanding of civics, Dreyfuss even attended
Oxford University as a guest scholar. His ongoing
efforts earned him a Peacemakers Award from the
National Conflict Resolution Center in 2016.
In 2008, he and his wife, Svetlana Erokhin,
bought a nearly 5,000 square foot property in the
Olivenhain community in Encinitas with the
intent to upgrade the 1970s home with the latest
water and energy saving technology. San Diego Gas
& Electric selected the property as a case study for
its Advanced Home program, which offers
incentives to homeowners looking to make their
properties more sustainable. In an interview with
the San Diego Union Tribune, Dreyfuss stated his
motivation for renovating the home stemmed less
from environmental concern and more from an
awareness of the United States’ dependence on
foreign oil. Clearly, Dreyfuss stands by his civic
responsibility, to the extent that he has quite
literally brought it home with him.
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