In order to understand Prout, one must first understand the concept of progress that Prout ascribes to. According to the founder of Prout, P.R.Sarkar –

The Ultimate Goal of Progress is Spiritual in nature

“The movement from imperfection towards perfection is called progress.” PR Sarkar

• • • Perfection comes from the word perfect, whose etymological root means “to complete”, so, in a broader sense, perfection means “completing” oneself.
    • One can only truly complete oneself by becoming all that one can be, realising one’s full potential.
    • In the physical and mental spheres, the scope for progress will be ultimately limited by the human form and the amount of resources it can access.
    • In a spiritual sense – completion (perfection) is possible and means becoming or realising the infinite potential of the human mind.
    • So ultimate progress is a spiritual concept, since this is the domain where humans can exercise their infinite potentiality.

True Progress is Universalist in Nature

“You should always be vigilant in collective life that no one is ignored, that no one is deprived. The seed of the true progress of society lies in remembering this principle, of thinking of others` interest first.” PR Sarkar

• • • Everyone is part of a vast, single and vibrant universal ecosystem.
    • We are all interdependent, “no man is an island”.
    • Progress is NOT just individual movement towards a goal, but rather, it is collective movement, including the movement of your environment and all its multitude of lifeforms.
    • As humans have evolved, we have created systems to help us govern our interactions with each other and our environment.
    • Progress means taking care of these systems of governance too.

Progress Requires a Base

“Spiritual progress can only be attained on a firm physical and mental base. Therefore, this physical and intellectual base has to be progressively adjusted to the changing conditions of time and space.”  PR Sarkar

• • • Prout deals with the utilisation of both mundane (physical) resources and the supra mundane (psychic and spiritual resources too) to create a base for progress.
    • Any progress, whether individual or collective, requires a firm base – food, clothing, shelter, education, healthcare need to be taken care of for each individual if collective progress is to be maintained.
    • Prout is a system that deals especially with our social and economic base for progress.