How did you come about learning that we are all gods in a way, so that all of us are part of a collection of spirits? (we are all god)
first of all I did not mean to imply we are all "gods". Individually we are very little, only a tiny fraction of the whole. but we are also all equal in that whole, and collectively we make up the greater being. Think of it in this way. Each of the cells in your body have the genetic coding that makes you what you are. Each and every cell in a sense IS you...and yet is not. Much like the cells in our body, our spirits are both the one and the all. Secondly, I believe my purpose in this particular lifetime was to understand the meaning of my own spirituality. So I have taken the opportunity to seek out information and view with an open mind all that I saw.
If someone wanted to believe in this, and truely wanted to pursue this type of thought, what would they have to change in their life to do so, if anything?
you dont have to change anything in your life. If you understand the concepts then you will naturally change because you "see" things more clearly. This belief system does not have "rules" per se, there is no doctrine that can be taught...it is simply a higher understanding of what you are.
Where would they get more information about it? Do people teach on it?
Well, yes...and no. what I believe in has no structure, its more like free form spiritualty. It is as individual as we all are. At the same time, the principals are quite easily found by opening yourself up to your spirit and seeking out your own direction. (I know thats easy to say...hard to do) My sence is spirituality comes from my collective experiences. Native Americans used to go on vision quests and spend time in sweat lodges seeking this understanding. Some different religions go on pilgramages, or fast for extened periods of time. The more modern western way is to study it. I would be happy to recommend a few books that can get you started down the path if you like.
How long has it been around?
The roots of Paganism and Shamanism go back 10's of thousands of years, Buddhism and Taoism go back about 2500 years. Spirituality has existed since the beginning of life.
And from an outside view, what I see in this way of thinking is that you really don't have to change anything to think this way. (I'm just looking from an outside viewpoint.) Is there any perks of believing this way?
As I already said, you dont have to change anything, but you will naturally. Spirituality is not about "perks" unless you want to include a sense of peace in your life as a "perk". the greatest difference between what I believe and what christians believe is where spirit comes from. Christians beleive it comes from the outside, We believe it comes from the inside. The phrase used by many modern pagans is "as within, so without" one way of interpreting that is to say that if you examine things on a small scale you can find understanding of the things on the greater scale (like my analogy of the individual cells in our body to the individual spirits that make up the whole). Put another way, once you can understand yourself, you can understand others.
Just more to talk about is all.
