Fearless Hearts & Saving Lake Shrine from the Palisades Fire with the Asad Family [Episode 975]

This Week’s Episode: 

In this episode of the Feel Good Podcast, host Kimberly Snyder engages with Billy Assad and his children , who heroically saved the Lake Shrine during the devastating Palisades fire. They discuss the importance of heart-led living, the power of intuition, and the courage it takes to act in times of crisis. The conversation delves into the spiritual significance of the Lake Shrine, the lessons learned from the experience, and the importance of community and service. Billy shares insights on fire protection and mitigation strategies, emphasizing the need for preparedness and awareness in the face of natural disasters. In this conversation, the speakers reflect on their experiences during a devastating fire that threatened the Lake Shrine, a sacred space for many. They discuss the importance of service, humility, and community support, emphasizing how their actions were driven by a desire to help without seeking recognition. The discussion also touches on the transformative power of meditation, the emotional connection to the Lake Shrine, and the divine orchestration that guided them through the crisis. Ultimately, they express gratitude for the support they received and the lessons learned from this experience.

About Billy Asad & Children 

Schuyler Grant is the founder and co-director of Kula Yoga Project in NYC, the co-creator of Wanderlust, and co-owner/director of the Commune Topanga retreat center. Schuyler developed a unique and beloved style of alignment-based vinyasa called Kula Flow. The advanced teacher training she has led for over two decades has minted teachers and studio owners worldwide. She was also a creator of the 200- and 300-hour trainings for both Kula and Wanderlust. She is a regular contributor to the Commune platform, which hosts a dozen of her asana and breathwork courses. She is especially proud of Empowered Birth, a course she hosted and co-produced to support women’s journey through pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum.

Schuyler opened the first Kula just two blocks north of Ground Zero in 2002, in an effort to help bring some heart and community back to Lower Manhattan. She is exceedingly proud that Kula is still going strong in SoHo and Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She now resides in Los Angeles, with her beloved Jeff Krasno, their three daughters, and four chickens. She leads regular retreats and trainings and considers herself exceptionally lucky to still love vinyasa-style yoga—and the same man—after all these years.

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Guest Resources

Billy Asad Website: WDA Fire Protection  Service

 

Episode Chapters

00:00 Embracing the Beauty of Southern California
09:08 The Impact of COVID on Personal Transitions
15:25 Creating Community Spaces
22:01 The Complexity of Relationships
29:08 Finding Balance Between Ambition and Contentment
35:09 Navigating Health Challenges and Personal Growth
41:27 The Science of Health Protocols
52:44 The Future of Humanity and Collaboration

 

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KIMBERLY’S BOOKS

• Chilla Gorilla & Lanky Lemur Journey to the Heart
• The Beauty Detox Solution
• Beauty Detox Foods
• Beauty Detox Power
• Radical Beauty
• Recipes For Your Perfectly Imperfect Life
• You Are More Than You Think You Are 

OTHER PODCASTS YOU MAY ENJOY!

• Wellness Insights: How to Listen to Your Body for Nutritional Guidance [Episode 878]
• How the Power Foods Diet helps with Weight Loss with Dr. Neal Barnard EP. 877
• How Not to Age with New York Times best-selling author Dr. Michael Greger [Episode #873]
• How to eat to reduce anxiety with Harvard nutritional psychiatrist Dr. Uma Naidoo [Episode #867]

 

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Transcript:

(Kimberly Snyder) (00:57.4)
Hi everyone and welcome back to our Monday interview show. I could not be more excited for our very special guests here with us today. I have Billy Assad and his amazing children, Ella and Nikki, who are literally the saviors of Lake Shrine from this recent Palisades fire. They rushed into the fire when everyone else

was evacuating. They have an incredible story of courage and love and overcoming fear and selfless service. And we’ll get into the show today how I really felt so strongly in my heart to connect with this amazing family and how organically we all came connected. And so here we are in person recording and I couldn’t be more honored to have them here on our show.

Billy also is the founder and owner of WTA fire protection He knows so much about fires and all the incredible intelligence it takes to really keep us safe As a society and so we’re going to talk a little bit about that today as well So first Billy, thank you so much for coming here and being here with us today

Thank you so much for having us and the opportunity, like you said, to spread a little bit of service and wellness to our community in times that people are really suffering and in trauma with the fires. And I think our main thing is to really share that Lake Shrine is such a sanctuary to us and everyone is welcome there. And I’m so happy that it’s still standing and it’s there for people to come and retreat and to heal and to have a moment in this really challenging time. So thank you so much for having me. Yeah, it’s an

Speaker 1 (02:57.41)
Well, so let’s reinforce that was this incredible, Lake Try is a spiritual center for anyone new to knowing about it in Los Angeles. You guys have heard me talk about Yogananda so many times. You are more than you think you are. It’s based on Yogananda’s teachings. And it’s really this, it’s this lake, it’s this center right in Palisades. And if you look at the burn map, it’s pretty much the only thing standing.

It’s very close. Yeah, there’s a few scattered properties and homes, know, some in the village and whatnot, but around the whole neighborhood, it is pretty much, you know, destroyed. And it is in the center. was in the center. I there were, there were, it’s right around Sunset Boulevard, right off PCH. When you, when you enter from PCH Sunset Boulevard, it loops around and

there were at least maybe 10, 15 cars right next to the fence of Lake Shrine that were melted to the ground. 20, 30 cars abandoned, people running out from the fires that were that close on fire, the trees all around Lake Shrine. it was there. It was right there. And a lot of what may be getting to this in a little while, but a lot of the structures that were in Lake Shrine are older legacy structures built in the 50s.

It was right there.

Speaker 2 (04:13.996)
Yeah. So no clay tile roofs, no nothing like old dry wood roofs.

Yeah. Well, and also, you know, we share the spiritual path of Yogananda and yoga, but Lake Shrine is really a sanctuary for everyone. I think they get hundreds of thousands, if not millions of visitors a year. There’s this part which houses some of Gandhi’s ashes, like a peace memorial. There’s something called the Court of All Religions, which has, you for the five major world religions, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity. It’s really this center of

Really just celebrating the oneness and the love and the universality. And it is so, I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it. It’s such a powerful place, like this epicenter for everyone of any faith, of anyone to come, spiritual or not, religious or not, to come and feel peace. And it’s actually one of the reasons that I moved to the area.

And both of my children have been baptized there. My mother’s memorial was there. And I know that your children have also.

We’re baptized in the Windmill Chapel as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s pretty amazing.

Speaker 1 (05:28.824)
So to say how priceless it is is sort of, there’s no words.

Yeah, like, you know, I mentioned before, you know, when you first look at it, the gardens are breathtaking. The numerous amounts of plants and vegetations and trees and rare, rare plants, rare flowers and the lake and the swans and the waterfalls and everything besides just the beauty of it. The energy of the vortex of, like I said, this vortex of healing and serenity and peace and.

and harmony in the lake is just so, special. mean, as you know, you know, there are so many places in the world that are so special that have this, that hold an energy, that hold a vibration. And this is one of them. If you’ve never been there and you can make it up there, please, please.

So now we can’t because of you guys. So having been to India, we were talking about how I did this pilgrimage to India. And I love those temples there. There’s some sacred spots. But to me, truly Lake Shrine has that energy. And many people won’t make it to India, but masters, sometimes people are like, calling a master master of himself is why we say that he was a master of his.

emotions and his humanness, he was able to really feel this divine energy coming through and radiate it. Because he was at Lake Shrine so much, because he lived on that houseboat for several days, because he was there, he left this incredible gift of that energy. And I’m getting goosebumps again. And before, I’d love to hear more about the WDA, just like the really granular information, which I think is really interesting to a lot of people.

Speaker 1 (07:10.52)
But there’s also these soul qualities that Guruji taught. And I feel like you and your kids really embody. And it’s just so inspiring. I think it’s inspiring to all of humanity. The first one I want to bring up is intuition. So Guruji talked a lot about getting out of the headiness and going into the heart, into the true self, and really feeling when there’s divine messages. So I’d like to go back to the moment

When the fire first hit and you guys are not in palisades, you’re elsewhere. And when you started feeling, you know, God and Guruji are like, there’s some, have to help. they’re, they’re working through me or they’re calling me in. Can you talk a little bit about that intuition?

Absolutely, and I’ll back up a little bit before that. So I started doing, and I don’t know if viewers know about the lessons. So it’s the lessons from Master Paramahansa Yogananda, and basically it’s lessons to get initiated into Kriya Yoga, which is the direct highway to self-realization, which is a knowing of.

Yes, please explain again

Speaker 2 (08:24.91)
what we call God, in us a peace, a light, a love, whatever that may be. And there’s lessons that have been passed down from the sages, from thousands and thousands of years. And for many thousands of years, these sacred lessons were held for the higher yogi, if you will. you know, master’s reincarnation, partner’s reincarnation was to bring these teachings to the West and to share Kriya Yoga with, you know, the masses. And that’s…

what he did, that was his mission. His main mission is to bring Kriya Yoga to the teachings of Kriya here. And so to touch on that, I already read the lessons years ago, probably 20 years ago, but then they redid the lessons. And I started reading the lessons about three months before the fire, really getting into the lessons again. there was this mass, there was this area in part of the lessons about being of service and how important it is. like you said, getting out of

Again.

Speaker 2 (09:18.538)
self and and I I’m getting into the big eye and what’s important the soul and eternity and everything else that was with it and so I was just immersed in this and I Daily day that I would in my prayers and meditations master, please use me use me as a tool use me as an instrument to to channel something

Yeah

Speaker 1 (09:38.69)
I you back to the lessons. Was it just something?

I just wanted to redo them and really, really, really in this mind’s eye where I’m at now in my life, reread them and you know, svadhyaya, self study of spiritual scriptures, you know? And that’s where I was. And I started reading the lessons again and diving in really deep and then all of a sudden the fires happened and I had my opportunity to jump to action.

So you have this background, you know, I think you mentioned in one of the other interviews I watched or listened to, like your father was in firefighting and so that’s,

Yeah, that’s right. My father was a fireman for 30 years and I grew up in the Midwest in Ohio. Wow. And so I grew up in the backyard putting out fires, playing, you know, fire trucks, hoses, nozzles, wild, wild land fires, how they burn. Like, I mean, we went through everything, evacuation scenarios with the family, you know, what windows to go out of my whole life. So he loved it. That was his life, his fighting fires. And so I grew up with that.

I I started to get goosebumps again when we think about karma and soul journey and to even think that everything in your life prepared you for this moment of profound service. it’s like, I don’t know, it’s kind of crazy. I’m sure you guys have all contemplated.

Speaker 2 (11:05.288)
It’s funny that you say that because Brother Chidananda, the president of SRF right now, he said the same thing. He said this was when we went and met with him afterwards privately, Gabrielle and Nikki and myself went and met with Brother Chidananda. He said exactly what you just said. He said, your whole life was this one point. Everything that came together was for this moment. And that was getting into WDA fire protection. That’s what I do. I’ve been studying wildfires.

how to fight them and the behavior of them and which way they burn and studying with some great organizations like NFPA and Cal Fire.

Every year, and years. So tell me about the moment when you found out there’s a brush fire in Palisades and my gosh, it’s right in your lake shrine. Tell me just where the decision came to take your kids and get in the car and go there.

So that the fire started on a Tuesday morning. Yeah mid morning and then I was talking which is very Divine as well with brother Tiagananda From Italy he’s great, right? Yeah, so brother Tiagan I were just texting each other because He was going we were trying to set up a little pilgrimages with some of the monks separate to the fires we were

yeah, I love him. He’s from Italy.

Speaker 1 (12:27.192)
separate to the fire. that same day. Same day. my god.

Bill and I were texting each other. We live on a boat in Marina Del Rey and I’m a captain as well, but I like to take people out. So we were trying to put together a little pilgrimage for a few of the monks to come and take a boat ride, just private, right? So we were trying to organize that and he goes, stand by Billy. I think there’s an emergency happening. This is via text. And I’m like, what’s going on there? Then I’m back and forth with him. And then about a half hour later, he’s like, I think there’s a fire up in the mountains. I’m like, what?

And I’m looking and there’s nothing on the news yet. You know, it’s kind of just getting going. And then so he goes, Billy, we got to evacuate. There’s a fire. We’re have to talk later in the week. And I’m thinking a fire like, you know, miles away, maybe a wildfire is coming through. Is that fresh and new? And sure enough, as we all know, it happened so fast. So 48 hours, the iconic Pacific Palisades is pretty much wiped out. know, 48 hours, 7000 homes, 25,000 acres.

Yeah, I mean it was.

Speaker 1 (13:29.772)
I mean, our kids go to school or went to school right near Lake Shrine. And so I remember being down here where we’re speaking and getting a call from the school and I can’t see the sky. And I remember they were like, there’s ash. I ran upstairs and it was like the whole, it was like World War III. And so we grabbed the kids, but it was like one of those moments that, you can’t really plan for except to have, this is where we really call on our spiritual practices.

But so amazing that you were actually talking. So I wanted the head. And my.

It’s a brother Tiagananda. There’s so many little things that were happening like that divine plan that were happening this entire time. So then he’s like, we got to go, we got to evacuate. So I’m like, oh, there might be a fire coming down. Maybe I should start getting prepared. From a job that I was working on, I actually had like 20 or 30 extra fire extinguishers in my storage unit that would never be there.

Yes, we do.

Speaker 2 (14:25.806)
So I threw those all in the back of my truck. threw some PPE gear, which is personal protection equipment, gloves, goggles, glasses, masks, everything in the truck. We kind of got ready. We waited to see what was going on and then it happened. We ended up leaving the next morning, Wednesday morning, picked up the kids, went up through the palisades, but there was blocks everywhere, showed my credentials. We got in and there was still so scattered fire crews.

that it felt like it was empty. The whole place felt like it was empty. It was so overwhelming that when we driving down Sunset, there was 50 hundred foot flames on both sides of us. Pops is burning, telephone poles falling in front of us.

So what made you decide to go Wednesday morning? Was there an intuition inside? You need to help.

Oh, 100%. This needs, we need to do this. This is what we’re ready for and what we’re, you know, made for. And not only that, I service all the fire extinguishers for all of SRF, Mother Center, Lake Shrine, and Senneas. Yeah, for years. So I take care of all their fires. I said, you know, let’s go. We’re going, we’re going to get into the lake. I’m picking you up. And so they got all ready and we picked them up and we went through.

So what did you say to your kids?

Speaker 1 (15:37.23)
And then with the same, you know, yes, no hesitation.

Yeah, so if anyone knows how when you’re coming in the lake shrine on sunset not from PCH But from sunset like right village you can see like shrine the temple the top temple About a hundred feet from us. We could even make it there on sunset because homes were falling So we had to reverse back it up go down Bellar Bakelum out through PCH and down that way around Through burning neighborhoods and it was really intense

Yeah, yeah

Speaker 2 (16:08.77)
But like my son said earlier, he said, not one time did I feel any fear or I was, we knew we were protected in the prayers of so many people from around the world. We could feel that energy happening to us. We knew we were protected.

I don’t even know what to say. it’s just, you know, it’s, I don’t have words because when I saw the fire in the distance, my instinct was run and it’s, know, miles away. You guys are right in it.

Talk to me about this other quality that Guruji talks about, which is the fearlessness, right? There’s this physical, like I think there’s this instinct as humans of, there’s a tiger, a lion, we go into fight or flight, our nervous systems are sort of geared to keep us safe. So there’s literally fire.

How does it even feel like what were you praying like what what’s going on? That you’re going into yeah, like which seems like sheer terror and danger absolutely and with your kids

Yeah, and with my kids as well. of course, like I said, this, you know, to repeat is, you know, it’s like been a, it’s been a buildup for my whole life. So I don’t think someone who wasn’t exposed from a young child with fires and their data firefighter and then in the fire industry and, and everything else, what was going on that, you know, we could have made it up there because it was, it was fearful. was scary.

Speaker 2 (17:51.882)
It was scary. then there’s that line obviously between putting your family at risk and fearlessness. And I had to really keep my wits about me and say, I putting my kids in danger right now? And how bad is this? where, so.

And your works with you.

My son works with me and they’ve been trained in how to use fire extinguishers with, the PASS acronym and put out live fires and we had our gear. wasn’t, we weren’t just being… Exactly. We weren’t just being, you know, reckless. Right. You know, and we did what we had to do and we got up there and we had everything ready and we got to the lake and I mean, could touch on that if you want right now what it was like when we walked in the lake.

You have all this experience.

Reckless.

Speaker 1 (18:38.286)
Okay, yeah, I mean, I’m just trying to imagine in my mind how intense it must have been. Smoke. mean, unpredictability.

Well, add it all. Put it all to, yeah, then you can document all you like of war zones with pictures and videos, but when you’re there and you have all the elements, all the smell, taste, sight, you wearing masks? We had masks. Yeah, we had masks on. But we had, I mean, when you’re at 50, 60 mile an hour winds, warm winds, the sun is blotted out, deep orange. You can barely see with the smoke. You can smell the smoke. You can smell the fires.

You can hear the crackling of the fire. And then you just hear these distant sirens and no one around. It’s life changing. It’s something that we’ll never see again.

Wait, so you get there and there’s no fire other firemen?

Well, we get fighters. Well, there there was, but they weren’t fighting there. So we get to the lake. We’re at lake level. Now we’re at the lake shrine. We’re on Sunset Lake Shrine, right? No, the fight, was one pumper truck inside the lake, but they were fighting the. Yeah, so they were just there trying to keep that from basically erupting even more. So they were fighting the apartment building and then we just basically got to action from there. We just unloaded the truck.

Speaker 1 (19:38.872)
And do they try to stop you getting in there? No.

Speaker 1 (19:44.984)
Department build

Speaker 2 (19:56.75)
Other things like this, there was a landscaping cart that we have that SRF owns, that Lake Shrine owns. had the keys in it in the parking lot. Yeah, like a little landscaping cart, people cart that you drive around the lake. had the keys in it. When they left, they left the keys in there. So we had all that to put all the fire extinguishers on the cart to drive around the lake and drop them all off at the spots. My daughter, Gabriella, who you’ll hear from, she volunteers at the garden department.

What was it? A landscape?

Speaker 2 (20:24.354)
So she knew where all the hose bibs were that were hidden in the tree. It kept going on and on and on on. know, Bill Lackner from maintenance and Brother Bolananda who both work at Lake Shrine, they installed a fire pump on the barge.

A more divine place.

Speaker 1 (20:44.142)
What is a fire pump? Is it like a high powered hose?

It’s a temporary, so it’s an engine basically. It’s a generator engine. it sucks water from a water source through a three inch suction hose and it puts it into a one and a half inch fire hose. So it does like 300 GPM, it’s called gallons per minute, and 125 PSI, which is stronger than a fire hydrant. So we had the lake water. So we jumped on that, we started that up. And then later they said, how did you guys know how to work then? I said, well, we captain boats. My son works with me as a deckhand. knew how boats.

handle and how an upward engine works and how fire homes work.

So if you didn’t know how to do it, never be able to. Oh my God. So on top of the fire skills, there’s boating skills. Is this not insane? No, it’s all. It’s beyond what, again, this is the, when you go into energy. Sure. And when you go beyond the physical, mean, there’s a miracle, The linear mind could never comprehend. You couldn’t plan for this stuff. Only spirit.

Probably never

Speaker 2 (21:47.374)
And you know, that’s one thing I wanted to add to is, know, like my father was a first responder firefighter, you know, and mad respect, mad respect for everyone who did what they could. were, it was just overwhelming. So, you know, this wasn’t just us. This was like a divine intervention. This was, this was prayers and energy and doing what we had to do, you know, to help. And like something that Brother Chidananda said, that was very important is, you know, our heart goes out to everyone who has lost their home.

Yes.

Sound and it’s not just like, look at us. We’re still standing. You know, there’s a reason. And like I said earlier, that reason hopefully is for people to have somewhere to go in times like this and to retreat and to see something that’s here. You know, that’s very important for us to say.

rate of

Speaker 1 (22:34.474)
Yes, it was definitely part of the message of SRF not to say like, look at us, we’re so much better or special. because it is a sanctuary as truly this place for everyone to come and gather and to feel peace. Wow.

you

Speaker 1 (23:01.998)
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Speaker 1 (24:27.694)
What was the play? Yeah, yeah. So when you get and chaos war zone, I mean, how did you guys even make a point? Like the lake is pretty big for anyone who hasn’t been there. It like what at least a half a mile around. Three of you, there’s no firefighters. No, no. I mean, I saw some of the footage from the L.A. Times, like behind the Gandhi Memorial, there was spot fires near Windmill Chapel. That’s right. Like, what the heck? How are you like?

Speaker 2 (24:40.59)
at least it’s big.

Speaker 1 (24:56.692)
Yeah. seems over… Beyond the fear, there’s this overwhelm of what do we do when there’s such a vast area and it’s all sacred?

Well, that’s right. And so we walk into the lake. We’re there. We walk into the quarter religions like you mentioned earlier in the quarter religions for those who don’t know, as soon as you walk into the quarter religions is the first big view of the entire property. So you can see the entire property and the homes up above it around sunset. Then you see the whole property, all the trees, the lake, the swans, the windmill chapel, the visitor center, the museum, God’s memorial. see everything that Yeah, everything. So you see it.

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (25:30.914)
get the lay of the

And that’s when it hit us. We all walked in and the three of us just stood there in like frozen for at least at least 30 seconds. It felt like to a minute we were frozen because that’s all we saw is what I explained to you earlier. The winds blowing through the fires all throughout the lake. You mean spot fires on trees and stuff burning and smoldering the distance sound of sirens happening, the wind cutting through the warm looking at the white swans in the lake covered with soot and.

They were still there?

yeah, they were still there in the lake. They were still there in the lake.

They were like we’re not abandoning our home. my goodness

Speaker 2 (26:11.512)
So right there is that’s where we stopped and we just jumped to action. We just were like, okay, what do we need to do? First thing we need to do, let’s grab the extinguishers. Let’s put them on around the whole lake where we can. Let’s get the extra hoses. A lot of them were left out from the garden department. So we grabbed the extra hoses. Gabriella immediately started watering the roof of the visitor center. Nikki jumped up on the windmill chapel. I looked at him up there. jumped up on the windmill chapel. He started watering the windmill chapel. We’re looking up in the air. You can see ash.

you know, lit ash smoldering down. And we can see it all over just just that’s how most 95 % of most wildfires start other homes is by the roof. It doesn’t just engulf it from the sides. It’s the embers the embers.

On the windmill?

Speaker 1 (26:55.182)
travel for miles yeah they can just live miles miles

Miles, lit embers can travel. land on the roof and they ignite a nest, grass. get in the eaves of the roof and then that’s how ignition happens.

Wait, Billy, hold on, your story, you know that in the Mahabharata, the story of Hanuman.

yeah, jumped over the lake.

Well, there’s this whole, mean, we tell the story all the time. My younger son’s middle name is Hanuman. And I just was so inspired by this story where Sita was abducted by demon Ravana and dropped her bracelet. then Lakshman and Rama were getting food or they were far away. So Hanuman scampers to Lanka where demon Ravana is holding her in the castle. And then he pauses and there’s like 300, I always imagined it in my mind. I almost like Star Wars.

Speaker 1 (27:44.928)
when you get to just like these stormtroopers and he pauses and he says, I’m just a monkey. And then he doesn’t do anything for a while. He kind of pauses and then his father, the king of the wing, like God starts to sing to him the Hanuman Chalisa, which is in sun script. says, up. Remember you’re not just a monkey. have the divine inspiration inside of you.

It was a moment. And he lights his tail on fire. This time he wanted to start the fire and he goes around and everything’s smoky and then he pulls Sita out. I this moment, Billy, when you guys are staring at the lake and then the divine inspiration that came in.

You know, know the swans names are Sita and Shanti.

I never knew their names.

All these years I never knew there’s

Speaker 2 (28:32.29)
We’re safe. Save Shanti.

But this moment where, I mean, it’s like, it’s a mix of things, right? There’s the, like the transcendence of the human. Because what you guys did was you had to transcend the limited human, humanness and the tirelessness, the energy that came through you. And even now post, because we’re human, mean, even which is another conversation, how the ego.

to not come in and be like, look at me, I saved this place, right? Which, you know, for many, the Western sort of hero stories, I have the power versus with all the spiritual training that you guys have so close to this source is actually the power is moving through me. It’s through me. It’s not me.

That’s right, channels were tools like, you know.

Stay so humble, Billy.

Speaker 2 (29:29.774)
Well, and I’ll touch on that a little bit if you don’t mind. Yeah. I’ll bring up Master with that is, know, when Master first came here in the 20s and, you know, all his spiritual power, like you said, for a while he started performing. Stopping and slowing his heart down, you know, having men, strong men pushing on something. Throwing them back. Well, he stopped all that because he didn’t want to attract. He wanted to attract souls that were really looking for that path, not just because of a circus or performance.

Yeah

Speaker 1 (29:59.158)
Exactly.

So the more famous, if you will, that Master got, the more popular he got, the more humble he got. more he started retreating, the more, when we did this completely, 100 % from our hearts and for the love of what means so dear and so much to us. So this duality, if you will, of recognition and like, wow, you guys are so, you know, it’s…

And the more he sort of retreated.

Speaker 2 (30:26.602)
It’s great and it’s beautiful, but at the same time it’s challenging because, you know, we want to stay in that humble space.

Right. But they think, I feel it so strongly when I see you and your kids, know, the one thing that never lies is people’s eyes and their energy and what’s really going on in someone’s soul and just the pureness, the kindness. And I felt it, like I could see it in all the press and all the videos I was seeing you guys, like what you didn’t get tainted and not just like in the public eye, but also, you know, sometimes it’s…

could be easy to say, I’m the chosen one. You know what I mean? People sort of get these ideas, but it’s true. Like you were the chosen one. But then there’s also this, you know, this is part of the journey of us humans to also stay so clear that all souls are equal, but we all have a different role to play. And you know, not better than less than.

But the mind in the world we live in with my indolution, it’s so tricky, isn’t it? We in a world that, you know, if you have a lot of followers or you’re some big, you know, YouTuber or actor, like people like place people on pedestals all the time. And we know on the spiritual journey that that’s not the truth. But to actually really embody that I think is challenging.

100%, I mean, and that’s like you said, as soon as we’re born, we’re born into a world of duality. And so we’re constantly fighting that Maya and that delusion, the worldly ways to the godly ways, the small eye, the big eye, know what I mean? The small eye and then the big eye, the soul and what’s everlasting, ever new joy, ever new bliss, like Master said.

Speaker 1 (32:18.126)
This is so dramatic. What you guys went through is such a dramatic, know, active heroism and service. And then also, oh, I have to stay humble and that’s on the spiritual. I mean, it’s almost I mean, there’s so many parts of your story and the fear and the fire. I mean, it’s just such a big like experience.

the search.

Speaker 2 (32:43.214)
Pretty cool stuff, mean, you know.

I mean, it’s extraordinary. There’s no other way to describe it. I want to get back to the fire.

moment. Yeah, the lake would just to be very factual that it would have been gone.

So I saw the footage with the fire coming behind the Gandhi Memorial. So just to explain to people that aren’t aware, Guruji Yogananda, he had initiated Gandhi when he was in India into Kriya Yoga. So when Mahatma Gandhi passed, they sent part of his ashes and they’re held at Lake Shrine into this beautiful Gandhi Peace Memorial. And so I saw the footage and it was Nikki, all of you, was fighting the fire and I was like, my gosh, it’s burned.

right there. So from there it was going to burn, you know, the rest of the temple and then, I mean, I don’t know how the, yeah, just go all around the lake.

Speaker 2 (33:36.91)
That’s how it starts. It starts with the bases of trees, eucalyptus trees that are very flammable because of the oil and the eucalyptus rock fire, the bases of trees, embers falling on dry leaves, dry areas. just keeps igniting. It just goes and goes. ignition. Yeah, there’s three things of fire. It’s oxygen, fuel, and heat. If you don’t have one of those elements, you won’t have a fire. That’s all fuel is what I’m getting at. That’s all fuel. The whole lighting is all fuel.

Wait, so go back to the moment for a second, the Hanuman moment, we’ll call it. Okay, you guys are staring at the light. I’m go back to this. Hanuman. The Hanuman moment. 30 seconds. And you’re like, okay. Was there fear we won’t be able to save it? Or it’s too big or there’s just three of us? Like the human doubt, did that come in?

Yeah, sure.

Speaker 2 (34:14.67)
frozen.

Speaker 2 (34:24.664)
Well, you know, some, once again, divine reason, I decided to bring out my cell phone at that moment and get the kids basically running away to what, after we said, Nick, you get over there, Gabriella, get on the roof, start watering this. And I brought out the phone just to start documenting real quick what it looks like. And I would, in the moment of like that, I was, when I think back, like, why would I be bringing out my phone for that just to, you know, to document? And as soon as I did it, I started looking at,

how severe it was. went into, I got so emotional. You can hear me crying on the video. And I’m saying, master, please protect us. Please protect us. Please protect us. And then I just put it away and did what we had to do. So it was just that. was just, yeah, it was boom and go.

BOOM

Speaker 1 (35:12.27)
And back to the intuition, when you created the plan, was it not thinking too much? It was more like, okay, Nikki, go there. You could just feel the areas that needed to be addressed.

Yes, first exactly first. I mean we spent the first day we were there. I mean a solid 12-13 hours solid Well, it’s funny you brought that up, but I can’t believe you bring that up so We in in one of the maintenance sheds they have a little kitchen in there and in that kitchen in that in the fridge they had one Half-eaten banana cream pie from one of the monks who’s an amazing chef

without eating

Speaker 1 (35:35.438)
We’re so tuned in.

Speaker 4 (35:48.447)
my god.

and he

So we survived off of that banana cream pie for the whole time we were there the first that’s all we had When Nikki and I went out to Hidden Valley, which is a you know part of SRF. It’s a

man, I wish I could have brought you guys food.

The monks made us six of those banana cream pies.

Speaker 1 (36:07.18)
Wow. Well, so I remember the first day when the, I mean, it was just so crazy, but you know, you just remember here and I couldn’t even watch it, but John Pisani, who you talked to, was like, you know, dear friend, a business partner, he was watching the, I couldn’t watch the news. It was just too emotional for me. And he was like, you you know, they’re fighting, they’re on the streets. And I had the feeling, you know, I’d love to go down there and help, but I’d be more of a hindrance.

I couldn’t really help. You guys are the ones who could actually help. You know what I mean? It’s just the whole thing is just amazing again. Like I could have, you know, would have loved to support. I mean, just like this helplessness. Like, can I bring food? Like, can I do something? But you guys had everything that lifetimes probably have experienced that came into this Hanuman moment.

That’s right. That’s right. building on that, so here we are at the lake, right? We’re putting out the spot fires. We’re climbing the hills, the dirt. So physical. Yeah, so physical. mean exhausting. Dirt under our nails. was exhausting. my gosh. a lot, know, hats off to the fire, you know, the true fire departments and things like that. And then water, just, we basically, the hoses started running weak because there was so much water being used in the area.

What?

Speaker 1 (37:27.508)
Only no water for you guys to

we had, threw some in the truck in case of water. So here we are on the lake. We have to get up to the temple to make sure the temple is okay. So we start climbing up the stairwell, know, the 108 stairs to get up to the temple. We get up to the temple. We do a quick aval. The temple is good. Smoke everywhere, you know, thick.

And the lake is

Speaker 1 (37:46.008)
Okay.

Speaker 2 (37:50.824)
see the fire coming up the hill on the sides, little spot fires around, know, there, going towards the temple off to the side from down from the parking lot, right? But we’d walk over what was really challenging to us. We walk over to the retreat center where Nick used to be a chef there at the retreat center. He cooked for all the monks there and all the retreat. He was there for a year. His first job out of high school. we to the retreat wall, but we look over and that’s where we can see

Waldorf School and St. Inez Canyon where half the monks lived on fire, full blaze, you know, and it just crushed us. It put us in our seats right there. We had to sit down because we knew the extent of what was in the monks quarters there. Not necessarily material, but memories of stuff that they’ve had for years and blessed.

Diaries and hard drives of stuff that they’ll never ever get back. We’re all in that in that quarters They’re like like a lot of people, you know who lost their homes, you know Just memories and that’s my tagline for my company is WDA fire protection protecting memories

Wow, what’s WDA? your name.

Yeah, yeah, it’s that it’s wildfire defense armor.

Speaker 1 (39:08.366)
Wow. And so you help outfit private homes, which, by the way, we will definitely 100 % be a client. putting sprinklers on roofs.

Everything. It’s fire mitigation plan. real quick. It’s everything from tapping into the irrigation system, putting sprinklers on the roof, a temporary fire pump like Lake Shrine had that you can use an outside source of water if we run out, like a pool or a lake or even if we’ve got a water storage tank, the proper landscaping, fire-ready plants, getting rid of bushes, putting in succulents, things like that, training for the family.

So we come and we train you and the kids how to use a fire extinguisher, evac situations, how to evacuate the house, where to meet. You get a little certificate when you’re done that you went through a fire training, you know. Yeah, so it’s a whole plan. It’s a fire mitigation plan for properties.

was incredible.

Speaker 4 (40:00.14)
No. Yeah.

I can’t wait to do it. It’s important. Anyone, I think this is a big wake up call for a lot of people. And you service all of California? Yeah. Amazing. So needed now more than ever.

I’ll have to go for

really is, it really is. And we’re doing something good for people out there too, you know.

Gosh, it’s amazing. Okay, so back to the Hanwha.

Speaker 1 (40:23.662)
It’s almost exactly like the story because he runs to Lanka, right? You guys got in the car and you went to the fire, but there’s still that moment where you’re like, and here we are. Right. Nothing can prepare you for that.

No, you have to just like find your center, find your breath, look at it and just be like, okay, what do we need to do right now? cannot, like Gabriella, she saw the swans, those are her favorite, and the koi fish, the turtles, the swans, the whole lake was covered in soot, the swans were white. And I had to like literally like, come on, Gabriella, let’s go, let’s get on this, like we gotta move, we gotta move. And she was crushed. mean, we were all just standing there, like you said, that Hanuman would just.

Like, do we, what do we do? How do we even start with this massive undertaking? What do we do? Three of us.

Yeah, mean, just to transcend the humanness in the moment because you’re being called, you know, just to… Because I think as humans, you know, we always feel this lack or a lot of times we feel the lack except for when we’re in the meditation, right? And we start to go into living more from what Guruji talks about, the self-realization, or so much more than we think we are. How has that moment changed you?

us.

Speaker 1 (41:44.674)
How’s life now post saving leg joint?

Well, you know, it really taught me about the true meaning of humbleness and how to really be of service without wanting recognition for anything, you know, without wanting recognition to do something truly from your heart and from your soul and something that means so much to you. just to give, just to constantly give back without…

recognition without needing something back to unconditionally give and not need anything in return. And because of that, it’s come tenfold for us with prayers and people from around the world writing us letters. get constantly from Mother Center, I get an envelope with kids programs that have made their whole hour of their program, thank you letters for saving Lake Shrine with little

drawings and letters and

Well, and besides the people writing to you, I mean, it’s just felt so strongly. were at a community event and you guys were what everybody was talking about. it’s inspirational and you don’t want the recognition, but at the same time, it’s like that. So the end of the Hanuman story for anyone who doesn’t know the Ramayana is after 13 years of being in the forest, Sita and Ram.

Speaker 1 (43:16.098)
decide after this whole abduction by Ravana to come back to the palace. And that’s what Diwali is really, they’ve lit thousands of candles. anyways, they come back to the court and then they have this big, you know, celebration and in the celebration Hanuman is presented with an emerald ring. And it’s like the ultimate recognition, know, the most beautiful stone in ancient India. And then he looks at the ring and he bites it. And everybody’s like looking at each other like.

What’s the matter, Hanuman? You don’t like your ring? And so that’s like, you where the Western story ends, like you get celebrated. So then he takes his monkey claws and in of the whole court, he peels open his chest and he opens up his heart. And, know, two depictions. One, there’s actually like Ram and Sita as a picture inside. And I’ve also seen in Sanskrit, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram. So the message was, I don’t do this for recognition. I’m here to serve.

Thank

Speaker 1 (44:15.818)
I’m in service to the divine. I’m also part of the divine, It’s that, like, kind of that dichotomy. But it was, like, that was the end of the story. Like, that’s it. Like, I’m here to serve. So it’s like, but, you know, it’s just an amazing, like, to sit here with you guys and to really just feel this openness and just the love and the prayers and the blessings. And it just feels like you guys are really, truly.

You’ve given such a big service, also just this love that’s surrounding you. You’re like Linus and Charlie Brown. He’s walking around with a cloud. You guys are walking around with a cloud of blessings.

Well, you know, thank you and thank you for saying that and recognizing and not only that, you know, back at you, you know, it takes one to know one and thank you for what you do. You know, I mean, look at what you do. You know, you’re putting out messages, just positive messages to the world and to your viewers and listeners, you know, of every topic, not just us, but everything that you do as well. mean, that means a lot. And if there was just more, you know, people in the world that would do that in these times and try to give.

without getting back and really think of others, you know, constantly. Just thinking of others, thinking of others, what can I do? You know, it doesn’t have to be this big either, it can be anything. Just the smallest little gesture of kindness and giving back is, it goes a long way, it’s huge, you know, and that’s the teachings.

kindness.

Speaker 1 (45:47.382)
It’s the teachings, right? Just to stay here moment to moment. And I think as well, the more we…

Keep.

know, simplicity, more silence and stillness, the more we can hear the messages. Because I moved out here to LA, Billy, with clients, and there was like a fork in the road in my life, and I could keep going down and working with only big celebrities, doing all these red carpet moments, and it really was this call of God and Guruji inside of me said, you know, this isn’t going to be your whole life. Like it can be, but you can also go this way, and you can start writing books that can…

reach more people, it was like the, you know, so many people were like, I can’t believe you gave that up. Like I still work with some of them, but it was just, I was like, this isn’t really my life’s. Yeah, you can’t really explain it. But all we do is, so what would you say to anyone that’s like, my gosh, intuition, this fearlessness, someone, you know, just in their daily life thing, you know, Billy?

That’s your heart call, you know?

Speaker 1 (46:54.326)
I do feel a lot of fear. You did this big thing, like, how can I be more fearless? Little by little.

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 (47:04.472)
Can I answer that in like one word?

meditate.

Speaker 1 (47:12.406)
That’s the only way right because this world if you’re attuned to this I mean it’s scary

See you anyway.

Speaker 2 (47:22.062)
Find meditation and like the SRF teachings. It doesn’t matter if it’s our path or Hindu or Buddhism, Christianity, whatever path that is that leads to that center, to that center light, that center divine light, that moment of peace, the altar of peace where you can find on that altar of peace conversations with God, the whisper of God’s voice. God is shy. He wants us to find him.

It’s not just going to be there for our taking. We’ve got to go into meditation and into that ashram of peace and withdraw from the senses, the world’s senses. And you’re going to find so much of your life’s mission in that. You’re going to find out what you need to do, like how you did, how you found that path at right or left. And you might be in something that you realize you had no idea, why am I in this?

If it’s a job, if it’s a relationship, if it’s whatever you’re in and then all of sudden you start meditating, really diving in deep and finding that truth, all of a sudden the answers start coming. Yeah. Asking we shall receive. It’s so simple.

Yeah, the guidance.

So incredible. Is there anything Billy I didn’t ask you or you want to share with anyone?

Speaker 2 (48:41.646)
I just really want to once again just express our love and our gratitude and our

we

received from the blessings and the comments from around the world of people reaching out and emails and social media, everything that we couldn’t answer, but we heard it and we saw it. it means so much to us and it means so much to the community. you know, just don’t give up. Don’t give up. God first, God first, God first.

Beautiful. Thank you. I mean, there’s no words to thank you enough for everything.

Thank you.

Speaker 1 (49:24.524)
All right, we’re continuing our interview today with the rest of the amazing Asad family, Nikki and Ella. Wow. Thank you, first of all, for coming here. I just am so, I just feel so grateful that we’re all here in the same space. And just like I was saying to your dad, I literally heard this story. I read it in the LA Times. I saw some of the footage.

And I just immediately felt so connected to your hearts and this incredible inspiration. And you guys are so selfless and humble, but just how inspiring the story was. first of all, I just want to say to both of you, thank you so much for Saving Lake Shrine. Literally.

Thank you for having us. We’re happy to share our story. Yeah.

Yeah, thank you so much for having us.

Speaker 1 (50:21.838)
So tell me about what I was talking about with your dad a little bit, what I was calling this Hanuman moment. If we could go back in time, it’s like one of those moments in LA, especially the West side. You remember where you were. I remember where I was when I heard the fire. You guys had a little bit, you know, almost pre-information because Billy was talking to brother Tiaga Nanda. When you first heard, okay, we might be going down to the lake. When you first heard that call, what was that like for you guys?

Yeah, I mean, for me, like you, like, like you asked my dad if it was a feeling of fear or was it scary or doubt or we can do it. It wasn’t actually at all. It was more such a feeling of wanting to be so of service and be of help and do everything that we possibly can.

I’ll have a closer look.

Speaker 1 (51:07.822)
Yeah, or mix of things.

Speaker 3 (51:21.024)
And I didn’t feel scared being there, going there, or have any doubt about getting there. No, I was more emotional about the lake itself because it’s such a sacred space to us and to so many people. It’s such a sense of home and love and openness and so, sacred. So it was really…

Not even for a minute.

Speaker 3 (51:48.586)
more emotional and more of a strong drive to be there, even to see it, to be near it, was the biggest feeling, the desire to be there and be so of help and service.

I’ve thought about you guys so many times. I have to tell you, you can ask my kids and my husband and friends. Every time I talk about you guys, every time I think that there was a possibility that the lake would be gone, I mean, I’ve cried a million times. The depth of what, it’s not just a place, it’s a sanctuary, it’s a portal of energy and peace and universal, unconditional love.

Peace.

Speaker 1 (52:35.338)
So it’s just amazing.

Yeah. Yeah. Like you said, or like he said, my dad, you know, it’s home to us. We’ve been going there since we can remember through Sunday school. And when we heard that the Palisades was burning, our first thoughts were on Lake Shrine. What’s going to happen? Can we do anything? What’s going to happen? And then that morning we decided we have to go. We were keeping up on the news and we realized areas are getting abandoned.

you

Speaker 4 (53:06.574)
because the fire was so severe. And Lake Shrine was one of those areas. The firefighters were trying to catch up and catch up, but the fire was jumping all over the place and they had to, they were low on resources and fire companies and we had to go to the lake. We knew it because it was abandoned. Yeah, knew we had to be there and we knew we had the credentials and we knew we would be safe and we asked, you know, we were

It’s just a clarity in your heart.

Speaker 4 (53:35.412)
asking Master for guidance. you? Yes. You went? Yes, through the whole time going through the fires, we knew we were protected. that’s where Ella’s saying, there’s no fear. We all are saying this. didn’t. It wasn’t there. We knew we were. It was scary. You know, there’s 50 foot flames all around us. But when we’re driving through, we knew we had a mission to get to the lake and we would be OK. little detail was right when we were about to get to the lake on Sunset Boulevard.

Yes,

Speaker 4 (54:05.414)
A big house was about to crumble right onto the road in front of us and a telephone pole fell right in front of us. That’s when we had to take a different route around to PCH.

Even before you got to the lake. Yeah.

Just south of the lake on up on Sunset Boulevard. Just right on the corner, there’s a big, big building where sometimes a lot of people will go to park in the neighborhood, kind of by closer to Montessori and Marquez up that way. And this big building there on the corner. Flames was

Yeah, we had every, was burning all around us. And, know, you can’t help but think how’s the lake doing? You know, this is all burning around us. Every time we see how is the lake even standing right now? Sure enough, we got there and we opened the gates and it’s, it made it up until the time we got there and we came at obviously the perfect time and there was divine timing and there was one other fire truck putting out an apartment building and then we got to work.

Vine Timing

Speaker 4 (55:11.38)
And we had our moment of evaluating and of being emotional, but then we had to get to work and there was no thinking, but just doing and putting out spot fires all around the lake. Yeah, it was just hours of work.

This tireless energy I was wondering about when I listened to the story. you know, as humans, we sort of have these ceilings we put on our abilities, on our energy, on what we think we can do. Yoga Nanda has always taught about, you know, there’s so much more that we can tap into.

I can’t even imagine the physicality. saw some of the footage of, there was one piece of you scrambling on this hill and you were like with some hose on the roof. mean, just, and breathing in that smoke.

Did you feel?

this, what did it feel like, this limitless sort of energy moving through you?

Speaker 4 (56:16.238)
100 % it was limitless. Yeah, we kept going for hours and hours and I think that’s where the prayers and the energy that was being sent to us. yeah, it was definitely felt 100 % It seems like we had, know, this infinite energy we could run up and down these hills.

The blessing.

take coursing through you.

Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 1 (56:36.91)
I was going to say, those stairs, just for anyone listening, are hard just doing one time without any sort of equipment or, you know, I mean, it’s amazing.

was intense, it was the energy that was being sent to us through prayer and meditation. That’s where the credit should go to.

Did you feel Guruji’s

you with you or did you feel generally the energy?

Well, when you go to the lake, you can feel the energy. So when we were there, as sad as it was, you can still feel that. And when we opened those gate doors, I was surprised it wasn’t worse, you know?

Speaker 1 (57:20.395)
how did you get the gate open, by the way?

The gate was open. Oh, yeah. Because the firefighters had broken it open to work on the apartment building. Got it. It was open and we just got to it. Yeah.

You know, sometimes in life, there’s a lot of fear, right? We think that we’re in control and, but we can control things. And when something like this happens, makes you realize that anything can happen at any time. And so it’s almost like we can walk through life with this, more of this realization of this real safety that you guys felt, or we can walk around in fear. How has this very dramatic experience

shifted your daily life? I mean, you’re probably still digesting it and processing it was about a month ago, and a half ago. Yeah. What do feel now?

I definitely am still processing.

Speaker 1 (58:15.875)
Yeah, maybe processing it for years to be honest.

Yeah, more so just the overall community of the Palisades and also, um, Waltadena and, and the other areas that have gotten burnt very badly as well. But I think in the general sense of community, I think I am still processing it all. Um, and seeing it kind of like my dad said, being there in person and seeing it and smelling it and being in it.

and having fire all around you and really being there in the moment, not just behind the TV is so unexplainable. I think taking that with me is something that I’ll never, never forget for the rest of my life. But in such a way, so, so thankful and feeling so blessed that we were able to get there, to get into Lake Shrine to help.

be of service is the biggest blessing, the biggest gift out of all of this was just to be able to be there and to help and do everything we could.

Yeah, and you can, a learning lesson from this is, you know, the masters and God is always protecting us, know, and that we felt that for sure. Wow. From all the prayers and from our own prayers, it was just so evident that we were protected in that area, you know, going through the palisades burning and making it to the lake.

Speaker 1 (59:52.75)
It’s just mind blowing. And I’ve only seen a little bit of your footage. We’ll be sharing more on Instagram of some of this more intense footage. Not flinching. Not flinching even once. I’m sorry, I had to comment on how Guruji talks about one of the most…

important soul qualities of the divine for humans is humility, right? And you know, there’s all the sayings in the Bible, you know, about passing through, you know, I’m paraphrasing here, like it’s like the eye of the needle, right? The meek and the humble. It’s very rare today, especially in the world of social media where everyone is sort of their own celebrity within their life. There’s so much just

pure humility and pure and just humbleness here. I think everybody’s so obvious, everyone’s gonna feel that.

I mean, maintaining that without having this thought, this very human, egoic thought, I was the chosen one, I’m the hero, I saved the lake. How do you guys stay untainted?

This is maybe just the truth of your soul and your nature and this is maybe why you were chosen to embody this.

Speaker 4 (01:01:25.646)
We were just instruments of the teachings, know, and of master. We’re just honored, if anything, to be those instruments at that time and that we were capable to make it up there and that we were protected. It’s just pure honor and I’m grateful that we were able to do that and we had the credentials and we were safe about it. It’s just gratitude, you know? Yeah.

Entirely. So much gratitude.

I was so honored to do that.

How have your meditations changed since then? What are you feeling these days?

You can still feel the blessings, you know. It’s like… No, yeah. You know, even we see on social media or messages or letters people sending their gratitude to us and part of us, like, I don’t want to, you you don’t want that. But it’s, it’s, that’s the blessing right there is, is, you know, feeling that gratitude of everyone and seeing people come up to you and say thank you. I mean, that means so much, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:02:04.142)
She’ll never leave.

Speaker 4 (01:02:28.098)
we’ll start crying when we see these sweet messages that people write that we saved, you know, the lake that they grew up in.

There are no words. I mean, I just think about the impact on my life, one of literally hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people, that that lake means so much in our life. Losing the lake would have been far more devastating than losing our home. It’s irreplaceable.

That’s exactly how we felt. For me, I’m sure all of us, it it couldn’t happen. I was, as dramatic as this sounds, I was ready to sacrifice anything to be there at least and be in the lake and do whatever I could because I knew that area was abandoned. And I was telling Ella, like, I’m going, I have to go up there. I was going to go alone in the middle of the night. And we all went together.

but it’s home beyond anything to us, know, because we grew up there and we had.

Yes, the spread.

Speaker 1 (01:03:29.48)
seen you guys there. Probably. Isn’t that funny?

Yeah, that is interesting,

Yeah, but since since we could remember it’s our in a way like inner home for so many people.

Yeah, for so many people.

It’s like a portal.

Speaker 3 (01:03:46.214)
It is. It’s such a sacred place and the energy and it’s more than home. It’s just the feeling.

Yeah, it’s like home with a capital O.

Well, then everything like you were talking about with your dad, all these aspects which led to this moment. Ellie, you had worked in the gardening department. You knew where all the equipment was. And Nikki, you also had a boating license and you know how to work a boat with a fire pump. knew all these very specific skills, which most everyone else doesn’t have.

I mean, this is the kind of miracle that wakes us up to the divine really being so here. Guruji used say, he’s not so high in the sky, like far away. It’s right here. This orchestration of higher intelligence. I mean, just to feel that you are…

being used.

Speaker 1 (01:04:49.758)
in this divine plan and this energy running through you guys. I it’s pretty wild when you just think about it.

Yeah.

Yeah, it’s like our prayers and know, meditations were answered right there. We’re constantly asking just be as let’s be a service. Let’s be a service and there it was, you know, we got to do a great a great thing and

Were you praying like that with your like when you’re done?

I really was, yeah. Before the fires, felt, yeah, know, kind of a desire to pray and in my meditations think about, you know, I really have an urge to be of service to you, Master, and help me just, let me be of service, you know, just for something. And sure enough, two or three weeks later, these fires happened and we got to do, you know, something great and we’re so honored that we could do that, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:05:17.381)
Wow, before the fires.

Speaker 3 (01:05:43.372)
Also, I think as a family too, think if my dad would have went, or maybe just my dad and Nikki would have went and I stayed home or whatever the case was, another major blessing is that the three of us were able to go and all be together in it. And really be together in it as a family. It’s so special too.

I mean, it’s an amazing embodiment of so many powerful qualities, the fearlessness, the intuition, the selfless service, the tireless work, I mean, in just so many levels. And one of the things that Guruji talks about is these soul families that come together for purpose. And it really, I mean,

everything that you guys embody, all your practical skills and your hearts. I you know, thank you so much for being this incredible embodiment and inspiration. Because I really think that’s what the world needs today is not just people walking around talking about stuff, but being it. Because that’s a vibration that

it brings, know, embodiment, you’re bringing these divine qualities to earth. And then other people can feel them and know, you know, that’s, that’s really a possibility.

It’s all thanks to the teachings for me, know. Yeah. whole life, you know, I’ve been around SRF, so all my gratitude goes to Guruji and God for, for,

Speaker 4 (01:07:31.086)
bringing that onto us, you know.

Yeah, and I think another thing was all of the prayers and I mean, the letters, some of the letters we received just so beyond words of gratefulness and appreciation and feeling so much love and that was an incredibly large part of this all too. And like Nikki said, we really felt that not just that day, but for the rest of the week, especially me, I felt it so much.

at work, at home, doing whatever tasks the rest of the week. mean, that week and the weeks going forward felt so odd and so displaced with so much destruction around us and so many people with no homes. I really felt the sense of love and gratefulness and honor and blessings to be a part of it. And, and yeah.

feeling all of the the love and prayers that were that were sent to the lake was

This won’t be forgotten, know, these, these, no one would think that the palisades would burn down. that’s why also the divine timing, like we’re talking about, I’ve been working with my dad for the past, you know, three, four years with our fire protection company. And, you know, now we can be a service once again and do a job, a service that will protect people’s homes in these fire zones. gosh.

Speaker 1 (01:09:07.158)
It’s so important.

Yeah, it is. the fact that we were training for this, you know, we started this company in 2019, he did and now here we are really getting going. It’s awesome how we could start by protecting the lake and that was our first job in a way.

How can people get in touch with your company if they’re interested? What’s your website?

Speaker 1 (01:09:37.966)
Okay, we’ll link to it directly in the show notes.

Yeah, and you know, it’ll lead us to, you can contact me or my dad and we’ll give you the information and we do a full evaluation of homes and businesses and get your property ready, you know, for a wildfire.

can’t wait to get it for our home and I’ll document it because honestly, after this fire, there’s like the practical aspect. saw some of our neighbors and we live here in the mountains around Malibu did have that. And we said 100 % if you’re in one of these wildfire prone areas, it’s pretty essential. And we’d been here for a couple of years and we’d never encountered a fire. I’m from the East Coast. So I’ll definitely be using.

you guys and I cannot wait. my god, next let’s do it next week.

Well, what we noticed is we’ve been up in the Palisades even after the fire is still helping and being at the lake almost every day. Yes, since the fires we’ve been there almost every day. The lake looks great. mean, since the floods happened, a bunch of debris has gotten in the lake and then we’re doing more work to sweep it out and stuff like that. We’ve just been constantly trying to help. my God. Which is great. Yeah, yeah, we’ve been there almost every day.

Speaker 1 (01:10:39.522)
Lately? Really? How does it look?

Speaker 1 (01:10:56.654)
didn’t know that?

Speaker 1 (01:11:00.224)
I didn’t know anybody was allowed in there.

Well, yeah, we have our credentials and there’s still lots of work to be done.

I mean, know there’s, what do you call it? The EPA workers cleaning up some of

Exactly. Now it’s a cleanup phase of it all. Yeah. What I was going to say was we see how we’ve seen people who lost their homes and their reaction is they don’t care so much about the home, but the memories they have, the photos, the books, you know, the photo albums, the videotapes, that’s what they, that’s what they want the most, you know, and that’s what they’re really crying about. Not so much the home, but the memories that were in there. And that’s, you know, our slogan is protecting memories. So.

That’s the goal of our company.

Speaker 1 (01:11:44.398)
So beautiful. Is there anything else that you guys want to share with anyone that I didn’t ask?

Well, just a hope is, you know, once the Palisades reopens is that people can, like Brother Chidananda said, use Lake Shrine as a sanctuary because that’s what it is. Anytime you’re there, you can feel the energy and it’s such a powerful place and hopefully it could, you know, bring some sanctuary to people who’ve lost their homes or who need that space or…

Yeah, you need to feel home again, you know, that’s how the lake feels for us.

Yeah

Yeah, and like you said, or not, religious or not, the energy there is so… You feel it when you’re there. you’re not there, it’s such peace and love and openness and welcoming and beauty that you can feel in your heart and in your soul. it’s so welcoming. like Nikki said, home.

Speaker 1 (01:12:50.667)
with you

Speaker 3 (01:12:57.262)
for those who don’t have or have lost their home or need a place of retreat and sanctuary and peace and reset from within. So that’s, I would say too, that’s definitely our hope. Have that space still for everyone to enjoy and be in.

It’s so beautiful.

Speaker 1 (01:13:28.558)
Well, I know that this is a podcast and so we’re talking, but I just, you know, for me, the greatest gift is just around an embodiment of like really, truly fearless hearts. So thank you so much. I there are no words. Yeah, thank you for having me. For being on the show and for rushing into a fire.

be.

Speaker 3 (01:13:47.096)
Thank you so for having me.

Speaker 1 (01:13:55.714)
with 50-foot flames and Saving Lake Shrine for the entire community. Thank you. I speak for many.

Yeah.

Yeah. And we’re also so grateful too, just to touch again on all of the gratitude from everyone else around the world and other devotees and followers and everyone else on the path that was sent to the lake and people who were praying for the lake and kept that in their hearts. That’s also the most powerful thing. So we’re so thankful for that as well.

and the sweet messages that everyone’s been saying. We haven’t really had a chance or, you know, any time to respond back, but thank you to everyone who’s showing their gratitude and sending their prayers and keeping us in their meditations. You know, that’s what got us through all that. And yeah, we’re so honored that we could do it. It’s such a great gift to be able to be of service to Master at any time.

biggest gift. Thank you so much for having us. Thank you guys.

Speaker 1 (01:14:58.932)
I just, feel so much love and connection to you guys. And again, I can’t say it enough. Thank you.

Thank you for having us.

And thank you everyone for tuning in to this extra extra special interview we will be Putting direct links on the show notes once again at my saloon a calm to WDA Fire protection calm where you can get more information on Billy and Nikki’s amazing company We will also link if you’re interested in seeing the LA Times article on them our own

post and real that we’re going to have with some of this incredible and shocking, I will say, footage about what was really going on during those crazy fires. And, you know, we could talk about it in this really calm, clear space, but it was like a war zone and something most of us will never experience. So thank you again so much for tuning in. Thank you, amazing family, for being here with us today. It’s a true honor.

Again, to be around embodiments of fearless, loving hearts, humble, fearless hearts. that is not a combination you see very often in the world today. It is very, very rare souls. So thank you again so much for joining us. We’ll be back here Thursday as always for our next Q &A show. Until then, take great care and sending you all so much love.