The Soul and God
From the highest to the lowest and most wicked man, in the greatest of; human beings and the lowest of crawling worms under our feet, is the soul, pure and perfect, infinite and ever-blessed. In the worm that soul is manifesting only an infinitesimal part of its power and purity, and in the greatest man it is manifesting most of it. The difference consists in the degree of manifestation, but not in the essence. Through all beings exists the same pure and perfect soul.
- The Nature of the Soul and It's Goal - Volume 6
This section of Swami Vivekananda's lecture illustrates one of my favorite beliefs from the Dharmic faiths. This idea that not only is the soul the same as the divine but all of creation itself has that same divinity. In this man is not made in God's image but rather all of creation itself is a manifestation of God itself. We don't need to be redeemed in the eyes of the Lord, we are the Lord itself and simply need to remember this and let it manifest.