Philosophy


Guru Krupa Foundation (GKF) is a private foundation incorporated in New York State. The purpose of the foundation is to fund several charitable causes. These causes may be broadly classified as being (i) Social (ii) Educational or (iii) Religious/Cultural.

Our principles and philosophy, derived from the value system of Hinduism, may be succintly summarized as:
        1. Help those who are less fortunate than yourself
        2. Support causes related to the acquisition of knowledge (both materialistic and non-materialistic)
        3. Preserve the heritage and knowledge that has already been acquired

Social projects
The standard of living today varies, by several orders of magnitude, between the most and least fortunate of people, and there are, unfortunately, too many people who don't even have access to what one might consider basic material needs. Consequently, there is no shortage of vulnerable and disadvantaged people on earth, who suffer, seemingly for no fault of their own. The "Social" projects of GKF are meant to improve the lives of impoverished people who do not have access to basic material needs. As one might imagine, there is a greater concentration of such people in undeveloped/developing countries of the world. Most (but not all) of our supported projects in this category are in India. Examples include financial support for non-profit schools, non-profit health services, non-profit housing, orphanages, non-profit organizations addressing adult illiteracy, etc.

Educational projects
Our understanding of the physical world in which we live is constantly evolving. The desire to "understand nature, and the physical laws that govern it, a little bit better than we do today", is a never ending quest. This quest for knowledge is best nurtured in higher study programs in the halls of academia and research think tanks. The "Educational" projects of GKF essentially fund fellowships at well recognized universities -- these fellowships in turn provide financial support to deserving students interested in advancing the frontiers of such knowledge.

Religious/Cultural projects
Religion addresses the non-materialistic aspect of human life, and inspires a bigger-picture perspective of the world. Further, it gives us a sense of group identity. Several religions have arisen and evolved over the millenia - of these Hinduism is one of the most ancient. The vast amount of knowledge acquired over several millenia is codified in its scriptures, religious practices and prescribed manner of living. The latter two, though, inevitably undergo a slow transformation as cultures merge and attitudes and priorities change in society. There is thus the risk that the roots of the religion may be forgotten with time and lost to posterity. The "Religious/Cultural" projects of GKF support activities related to preserving these traditional roots by providing financial support to ashrams/patashalas, temples, cultural programs, etc.



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