Well, note that that's a bit of a non-sequiteur -- the Soul thing really isn't related to the Deity one. Keep in mind that Buddhism was an outgrowth of Hinduism, so gods were an *assumption*. Everyone figured that there were gods. But the gods are simply changeable beings like anybody else, and no more truly eternal: indeed, they are just part of the wheel of being, and you could be reincarnated as a god if your karma was incredibly good, just as you could be reincarnated as an ant (or a rock) if it was bad.

And mind, I *have* had that experience of immanence at least once. I chalk it up to Jungian archetypes, personally...