5 fundamental principles  11 social and socio-economic principles  Existence  Leadership  Economic democracy  Democracy  
"State vs. private"  Neo-humanism

4th fundamental principle of Prout

There should be a proper adjustment amongst these physical, metaphysical, mundane, supramundane and spiritual utilizations.

Purport: While promoting individual and collective welfare there should be proper adjustment amongst the physical, mental and spiritual and the crude, subtle and causal factors. For example, society has the responsibility of meeting the minimum necessities of every individual but if society arranges food and builds a house for everyone under the impetus of this responsibility, individual initiative becomes retarded. People will gradually become lethargic. Therefore society has to make such arrangements so that people, in exchange for their labor according to their capacity, can earn the money they require to purchase the minimum necessities. In order to raise the level of minimum necessities of people the best policy is to enhance their purchasing capacity. 

The law of adjustment further stipulates that while taking services from a person who is physically, mentally and spiritually developed, society should follow a balanced policy of adjustment. If only one of these three capacities – physical, mental or spiritual – is developed in a person, society should take the one that is developed. If both physical and intellectual capacities are sufficiently developed in a person, society should adopt the policy of adjustment, which takes more intellectual service and less physical service, because intellectual power is comparatively subtle and rare. If all three capacities – physical, mental and spiritual – are found in one person, society should make greatest use of their spiritual service and least of their physical service. 
The greatest service to the cause of social welfare can be rendered by those who have acquired spiritual power, and the next service by those having intellectual power. Those having physical power, though not negligible, cannot do anything by themselves. Whatever they do is done under the instructions of those with intellectual and spiritual power. Hence the responsibility of social control should not be in the hands of those who have great physical capacity, or in the hands of those endowed with courage, or in the hands of those who are intellectually developed, or in the hands of those with worldly skills. Social control should be in the hands of those who are spiritual aspirants, intelligent and brave all at the same time.
Ananda Sutram 1962
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If a particular person is endowed with all three potentialities and if only their physical services are utilized, then they may not be able to serve the society with their intellectual or spiritual potentialities. So there should be proper adjustment in the process of encouraging service from individuals or collective bodies. 
From “Talks on Prout” (1961)
Prout in a nutshell 15

Copyright Ananda Marga Publications 1999
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The fourth fundamental principle states: “There should be a proper adjustment amongst these physical, metaphysical, mundane, supramundane and spiritual utilizations.” The resources and capacities referred to in the second and third fundamental principles must be adjusted in a balance that will have to vary with conditions. An over emphasis of physical culture, for example economics and technology, will lead to mental degradation, exploitation and the suppression of subtler human capacities. Similarly, an over emphasis on spiritual culture will lead to material deficiency and, inevitably, exploitation. A proper balance is required in all spheres so that there is no neglect or suppression of essential human or universal resources.

In making this adjustment, special attention has to be paid to those capacities that are most rare. In the natural world, rare ecosystems must be given greater value than either their economic worth as common physical resources, or other more common ecosystems. In the human world, rare talents should not be waste by insisting, for instance, that a person of great intellectual capacity performs only physical labor. In general, intellectual talents are more rare than the physical, and creative and spiritual talents are rarer still. So, rare talents must be encouraged individually and collectively, as part of the pursuit of a physical, mental and spiritual development.

From New aspects of Prout, by Jayanta Kumar
Proutist Universal Publications, Denmark 1987

Copyright The author 1999