The Claymont community is a spiritually oriented community, which means that its members are committed to working together toward transformation of being. The aim of this transformation may be described as the embodying of unconditional love, becoming enlightened, becoming a completed and completing human being, or becoming what Gurdjieff called “man number seven”.

This involves the transcending of the ego, which can be facilitated by both the mutual help provided by group work and the challenges of living in community with other people. Living in community is an opportunity to work toward true unity with others through development of mutual love and understanding.

The Claymont community is part of the CSCE, which has as its mission continuous education in growth of consciousness and sustainable living for its members and society as a whole. In keeping with these aims, the resident community is committed to the following concepts. These are starting points for focusing our efforts and organizing our resources to help us realize the CSCE mission more completely.

1. Spiritual focus -Each person participates in community practice and maintains daily practice (meditations, theme meetings, workdays, community weekends, etc.). All residents are committed to a spiritual life and to a spiritual direction for the community, working as intensely and consistently as possible to deepen their own level of consciousness, and through this their ability to serve the whole.

2. Operational Excellence – Each person strives to improve both the life of the community and its projects and to contribute to the aims of the society.

3. Financial Sustainability – Each person helps in making the CSCE a financially stable non-profit by contributing to the educational programming (the seminar program, the garden) and other administratively decided upon income-generating sources.

4. Harmonious community – Each person has a commitment to working to create true community. He or she constantly strives to interact with all other parts of the community in mutually respectful and loving ways, and to help create conditions that lead to greater unity. This can include developing social activities, encouraging each other in spiritual pursuits, and helping each other in difficult times. Harmonious community life also requires that members deal with his or her own psychological issues and use conflict resolution technologies to clear disagreements with other residents. It is important to bear in mind the distinction between creating true community and being merely a group of people with projects.

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5. Environmental stewardship -Each person practices environmental stewardship through recycling, carpooling, non-toxic construction, organic gardening, etc. and has a sense of responsibility toward the Claymont property.

6. Service and provision of education -Each person is of service to the Society and to the larger community. This service is an intimate part of following a path of spiritual development, For this reason, each person works not only to increase his own level of knowledge and understanding but when possible to contribute to the increase of these in the community and society as a whole. This may be done through sharing, research, and participating in the education of others.

We ask each person to show initiative and constantly strive to improve quality, while maintaining awareness of the whole.