A gift to a California church well in excess of 1 million dollars has been made by J. J. Lynn, Kansas City insurance executive.
This came to light today with the publication by the Securities and Exchange commission, Washington, that Lynn, a director of Kansas City Southern Railway company, reduced his holdings in the company by 22,000 shares.
List of Transactions.
The SEC report, which is published every two weeks, lists the transactions of registered corporation officials, their purchases, sales and gifts. The government report, however, does not disclose the beneficiary of such stock gifts.
From a reliable source it was disclosed that the recipient of the 22,000 shares of common stock of the railroad is the Self Realization church of Los Angeles. On the basis of the current market price of the stock the value is well in excess of a million dollars. The stock, traded on the New York stock exchange, has been selling at about $50 a share.
Since Lynn, as a director of the Kansas City Southern, must report any change in his holdings, the gift showed up in the commission's current release, which also showed that he retained only 200 shares. The small retention is to qualify him as a director.
Among Top Owners.
Prior to the transfer of the 22,000 shares of common stock, Lynn was one of the largest owners of common stock in the carrier.
Lynn, who lives at 6440 Brooklyn avenue, is president of the U. S. Epperson Underwriting and the Lynn Underwriting companies here. He is reported to be recovering at the Good Samaritan hospital in Los Angeles. He underwent surgery, April 26. He underwent a major operation in August, 1952.
The Self Realization church was founded in 1920 by Paramahansa Yogananda, a son of a wealthy industrialist from India. Yogananda established the first order in Los Angeles, and today there are other branches in the United States and in fourteen foreign countries.
The church owns a large tract of land in the Mt. Washington district in metropolitan Los Angeles. The teachings of the group are based on yogi.
A Probation Period.
At present there are about ninety disciples at the temple. About sixty are women who have gone there from all parts of the country to serve a 7-year probation period before becoming a full member. The women wear India-style robes. The male members do not wear any particular garb except at ceremonies, where India costumes are the rule.
The members of the cult are firm believers in meditation and their day is divided into two periods--one for work and one for meditation. The members work at the church and operate a printing establishment. Pamphlets and literature are sent throughout the world.
Part of the indoctrination is steady exercise. No meat is eaten. The order operates a restaurant on the famous Sunset boulevard where "mushroom-burgers'' are featured.
Near Swope Park.
Lynn's city estate borders on Sixty-third street on the north and Meyer boulevard on the south and covers several blocks in the area between the Paseo and Swope parkway.
The estate is known to virtually every Kansas Citian for its high stone and wire fence. About 7,500 feet of fence surrounds eighty of the 120 acres assembled by Lynn. Inside the fence has been developed a private park, now the front lawn.
May 21, 1954
