The University of Spirituality is the visionary
creation of Brian ‘Aidan’ Stiles. Aidan has been
engaged in a pursuit of higher learning for many years. His
initial exposure to the new frontier of higher learning occurred
through group participation. The main focus of the group entailed
deciphering visions and symbolic insight from the spirit world
and translating the information into a meaningful message to
share with group members. He quickly became proficient at the
practice and wrote Circle of Visions based on the experiences.
Aidan engaged in extensive sessions of prayer
and meditation. In fact, he sought the inner realm of silence
at every opportunity. After Circle of Visions, he explored the
orientation circuit by attending various Holistic and Spiritual
related functions looking for answers. Some left him satisfied,
some did not. Even in the midst of perceived satisfaction there
was something missing, a mysterious void of fulfillment that
could not be explained. Little did he know at the time that
there is only one way to fill such a void and he would devote
his life to solving the mystery.
Aidan began to experience a significant stirring
within his soul after connecting with The Life and Teaching
of the Masters of the Far East, by Baird Spaulding. He read
and studied the books in depth, including reciting various passages
to confirm the truths aloud. He continued to engage in extensive
sessions of prayer and meditating at every opportunity. He studied
in depth the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita and sensed something
grand lay on the road ahead. The invisible doors of consciousness
opened wider and Aidan knew instinctively that he would play
a decisive role in the New Millennium. He was destined to create
something unique, but what that role would entail remained a
mystery.
Aidan continued with diligence his inner search,
worked hard and tried to find a life around it all. Visions
and ideas came to him of something that seemed quite wonderful.
Inspiration flowed like a river and what began as a series of
short writings evolved into a full blown course on self-mastery.
The Master Within, Building Our New Home Within the House of
God was the result. The idea for the course is about building
a new, spiritual home from the existing framework of one’s
being. The home is constructed from the core essence of our
soul utilizing universal energy as the building blocks. We already
have the tools and materials to build our new home. All that
is required is an open mind, sincere intention and the desire
to Know God More Fully.
The Master Within, as lengthy and in-depth as
the writings are, expanded into an even larger project. Inspiration
continued to flow along with the usual late nights and little
sleep. The idea for the University of Spirituality arose that
would very nicely compliment Volume One of the course. The idea
revolves around a school that taught people about the deep,
hidden mysteries of life. The University of Spirituality does
not exist on the Earthbound plane and students would receive
learning through the soul when praying, meditating and other
wise communing with God. They would also attend this University
while they slept through Out of Body Experiences.
There are Universities for just
about everything else.
Why not a University of Spirituality, he thought.
The course writings serve as stimuli for opening
the soul to receive the greater teachings of God. God teaches
us directly through energy transference. The soul is the intermediary
between the light of pure knowledge and what might be defined
as our lower self or that part of us that yearns to learn. In
other words, there exists within us a relationship consisting
of both teacher and student. The process has nothing to do with
channeling or anything of the sort because the intervention
of a spirit entity is not required for individual teaching purposes.
What we receive is undiluted inspiration meant exclusively for
us.
We all have the innate ability to access the
Higher Halls of Knowledge and The Book of Our Life to learn
about the deep intricate nature of ourselves and what we can
create to make this world a better place. Given the environmental
clarity of the Universal Library, the matrix for the ideas we
discover is already flowing, so to speak. Therefore, the chances
for actualizing the idea are more certain. Throughout life experience
we all are inspired by numerous ideas, but many are not acted
on for various reasons. One of the reasons is the fear of failure.
The process of bringing forth ideas is slow, but perhaps when
we better understand the delicate process of manifesting thought
energy we’ll be more apt to see our ideas through and
realize our creative potential. It is a profound example of
inner joy, satisfaction and fulfillment.
Unfortunately, at the same time a solid foundation
was being established for the Master Within and the University
of Spirituality, darkness fell. Aidan experienced intervals
of darkness earlier in his life, but it was relatively mild
by comparison. The darkness rained down like an inescapable
torrent of negative vibes that invaded his reality, disrupted
his work and stood as a huge barrier to just about everything
he tried to accomplish in life. He describes the experiences
as a living nightmare that continued for years. Although things
are somewhat lighter now, Aidan admits that he is not out of
the woods. At any rate, the work continues.
He sees the University of Spirituality as a
piece of the puzzle to help create a better future for planet
Earth. Spirituality is a solid foundation for establishing a
cooperative global community. When we begin to understand whom
we really are from a deep integral perspective, why we are here
and that greater potential and purpose await us, a shift in
consciousness occurs. A collection of individual shifts in consciousness
slowly gathers momentum and sets the stage for a global shift
in consciousness.
Aidan also sees the University as a model for
future education. The current education system is in need of
renovation and as fantastic as the idea seems, Aidan hopes that
some of the principles exemplified by the University of Spirituality
may one day be incorporated with the existing educational system.
Meditation classes should be at least an elective in school
and learning about the greater mysteries of life will take us
far.
He stresses that although The University of
Spirituality is invisible and intangible, it is undeniably real.
Learning directly from God is a slow process that requires time,
patience and devotion. Aidan suggests that a person really can
do anything he or she so desires. The entire Master Within/University
of Spirituality project was conceived through the direct method
of learning, including numerous side projects to later be incorporated
with the University. God has also inspired Aidan to undertake
and accomplish many things he would have never thought possible,
including the design, writings and know how to actually design
this web site which he had no prior knowledge. Little things,
big things, it doesn’t matter. The potential is amazing,
but patience and allowing the stream of creativity to flow through
you is the key. The process can be somewhat frustrating because
inspiration doesn’t always flow when you want it to and
the end result may not always be the way you envisioned.
Aidan views self-mastery and immortality as
the next step in the human evolutionary process, however, the
choice to either remain embedded in past habitual practices
or evolve to a higher, more passive state of being is an individual
one based on God given free will. God creates everyone with
equal ability and potential to accomplish anything, including
attaining the ultimate height of immortality. He doesn’t
wish to deter anyone who sincerely desires to know God more
fully from pursuing the path of self mastery, but he cautions
that it is not for the faint of heart. Self-mastery is the ‘high
end’ of the path of spirituality. In other words, the
path of spirituality is wide and diverse in the beginning and
therefore draws many seekers onto it. The path narrows considerably
the further one progresses. Satisfying karmic requirements is
nothing short of brutal. Of course this is entirely dependent
on the individual karmic imbalances. For the most part, however,
those imbalances are many and varied. Otherwise, the person
would not even be in a physical embodiment. Taking things slowly
is the only way to go and Aidan has learned this lesson over
and over.
Aidan approaches the spiritual building process
largely according to the difficulties involved and the course
material reflects this. He sees much of the spiritual guidance
available these days concentrating more on the glorious end
result and the projected vision of the Kingdom of Heaven rather
than the obstacles involved along the way. It is therefore highly
‘sugar coated.’ and based more on speculation and
wishful thinking. Love is a natural flowing current of the universe
and is therefore easy. Surmounting the barriers to love, (namely
karma) is the centerpiece of the work.
This is one of the reasons many are drawn onto
the path of spirituality initially, but drop out when the work
becomes overly taxing. Self-Mastery is not an endeavor for part
timers. You either give it your all or stay on the golf course.
Self-Mastery does not simply come to you. You must work hard
for it by erasing all of the bad weather that adversely affects
the building process. According to Aidan,
Building Your New Home Within
the House
of God requires extensive Home Work.
Aidan certainly does not consider himself
to be a saint, master or anyone out of the ordinary. He is a
student of the University of Spirituality and seeks self-leadership
through the divine guidance of the spark of God within his heart.
In the midst of working on the project, Aidan experienced what
he describes as a few fantastic moments of exposure to the Kingdom
of Heaven. The moments were indeed brief, but authentic and
served as confirmation for the legitimacy of his work. Something
else extraordinary also happened. The mystery of the void within
him that he longed to fill was solved. Not only was the void
filled, it overflowed with such an abundance of pure love that
it is simply inconceivable. There wasn’t even the slightest
question. He says the experiences were the real deal. There
is no way to adequately express what the moments were like and
he chooses to keep the experiences confidential for the time
being.
He also wishes to emphasize a few things
in regards to the material contained herein. The difficulty
in putting this course together ranges in the exponents, which
is one of the reasons it is not yet finished. The foundation
for the work was laid over a three year time span (2000-2002).
The project has been under construction since that time and
coincides with Aidan’s own process of Building His New
Home Within the House of God. There have been numerous obstacles
in bringing forth the course writings and a few false starts
in getting the University of Spirituality Web Site up and running.
In addition to the Master Within series,
Aidan is the author of Circle of Visions. Circle of Visions
is a collection of the experiences he had with the group giving
messages to each other. The book is written from an inner experiential
perspective. He brings out the heart of the meditational experience
through what he sees, feels and intuits. The book is what Aidan
describes as the early days of awakening and homing the skills
of deciphering visions. The book is a fun read and the visions
bring forth messages of inspiration for us all.
Aidan is also known as Bodan (Bodân).
Bodan is his higher soul name that he realized after reaching
a plateau with his higher learning. Shortly thereafter, he initiated
the process of constructing the Master Within and the University
of Spirituality. As far as Aidan is concerned, a soul name,
higher name or nickname, it makes little difference how one
perceives it. A new name is all part of the transition to a
new person. If you are swimming in new waters of life and no
longer identify with the person you were in the past, why not
leave those memories behind to create new ones ...
