Organization background
The Arunachala Ashram is the New York local branch of Sri Ramana Ashram (which is located in Tiruvannamalai, India). The Ashram adheres to the philosophy of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950). Bhagavan was born into a Hindu Iyer family, and at an early age underwent a unique spiritual experience which led him to abandon his parent's house and move to the foothills of Tiruvannamali in Tamil Nadu, India. He spent several years in meditation and spiritual pursuits here -- and his description of his personal experiences essentially coalesced into the form of his teachings. His philosophy is idential to the Advaitic philosophy of Sri Adi Sanakaracharya (which emphasizes the "oneness" of the universe) but rather than being acquired in the conventional way by apprenticeship and instruction from a guru, Sri Bhagavan experienced the truths of Advaita during his periods of meditation and during his trances.

The main goal of all religious philosophies in Hinduism (Advaita, Vishist-Advaita and Dwaita) is to relieve human beings of suffering, and each school of thought prescribes its own methods and philosophy to reach the goal. Faith and absolute surrender to God or a Guru are often advocated as the first steps in reaching the goal (Bhakthi marga). One characteristic that distinguishes Bhagavan's teachings from other schools of thought is that in addition to Bhakthi marga, he also advocated an alternate method of self-inquiry which is based on logic and which came directly out of his personal experiences.

The central tenet of his teaching is that human misery is because human beings wrongly identify themselves (that which they refer to as "I") with their body rather than with the universal "oneness". He suggested a path of questioning and reasoning that can remove this wrong association and lead to freedom from misery. The logical nature of his arguments enabled his theories to transcend the boundaries of Hinduism and India and to co-exist with western philosophy - consequently a great deal of his followers are drawn from the western hemisphere.

Project background
At present, the major branches of Sri Ramana Ashram in the North American continent are in Florida, California, New York in the US and Nova Scotia in Canada. The Advaitic school of thought as propounded by Sri Bhagavan is an important component of Hindu religion and culture. His philosophy provides succour and comfort to millions of his followers, and the local branches of his ashram enable those devotees to come together and participate in "satsangs" and other religious functions that reinforce his teachings to their personal benefit. In addition to providing spiritual succour to his devotees, the local ashrams also serve to preserve and protect his school of thought and ensure that the beliefs and values learnt over several millenia are not forgotten. GKF provides financial support to temples and ashrams, for activities related to preserving and nurturing the Hindu religion and culture.

Project description
The Arunachala Ashram in New York relies entirely on voluntary contributions from the Maharshi's devotees to fund its operations. Over the years, the number of devotees thronging the ashram has increased, and it is looking to both maintain and expand the current infrastructure, to accomodate the devotees, especially during important religious functions. As the ashram serves a very important role as a preserver of Hindu traditions and culture, GKF provides financial support to the ashram for general expenses including hosting religious functions.

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