The Gurudom belongs to the path of religion and yoga. Gurudom is nothing to do with Atmic path or path of wisdom.+

The Gurudom belongs to the path of religion and yoga. Gurudom is nothing to do with the Atmic path or path of wisdom. Gurudom is a great obstacle for acquiring Advaitic wisdom.

The path of religion the path of yoga and the path of wisdom were intended for different classes of people. The wisdom is for the advanced seekers of truth. It deals with the nature of the ultimate Truth and Reality. It is meant for superior aspirants who have an inner urge to know the truth and it is not for those who are immersed in earthly desires.

A true seeker is not content with the knowledge of spiritual realities based on hearsay... he insists on the direct knowledge." With bookish or hearsay knowledge it is not possible to realize the ‘Self’ hidden by the dualistic illusion (Maya).  The seeker has to do lots of homework to realize the Self. 

It is necessary for the seeker of truth to bifurcate religion from spirituality to realize the ‘Self’ hidden by the dualistic illusion (Maya).   

Yoga Vasistha says: ~ Self-knowledge or knowledge of truth is not had by resorting to a Guru (preceptor) nor by the study of scripture, nor by good works: it is attained only by means of inquiry inspired by the company of wise (Gnani). One’s inner light alone is the means, naught else. When this inner light is kept alive, it is not affected by the darkness of inertia. 

There is no need to condemn Gurus, but there is a need to highlight how they become an obstacle to realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

The Guru is useless so long as the ultimate truth is unknown, and Guru is equally useless when the ultimate truth or Brahman has already been known.

The idea of worshiping the Guru as God in human form is not the Vedic idea.  Different Saints and reformers of Indian society introduced their ideas and founded and established a regular religious sect in their name.  This is an unhappy development of the religious movement in India.

People believe that Guru or mystic or priest has got so many followers and therefore, there must be some truth in their teachings is a common fallacy accepted by the populace due to their inherited samskara or conditioning. It proves only an ignorant can find a number of greater ignorant to follow him.

Hindu religious literature is full of such aphorisms as ' there is no higher deity than the Guru; the Guru is the ultimate Truth and Deity. God and  Avatars (incarnations) are secondary to the Guru in importance ;there is no higher refuge, no higher target, no higher destination than the Guru ; the Guru is God Himself ; God and the Guru are one ; he who makes a  distinction between the Guru and God is ignorant and stupid ; and scores of  similar others. They abound both in Sanskrit and in modern Indian languages.

People born in different sect and they remain as its follower. Most of the sects are founded by some Gurus, thus Indian belief system is a Guru Cult, i.e. believes in the worship of the Guru as the Supreme Deity.

By glorifying the Guru and yogis as God the grace will not come.  The Guru or yogi belongs to the domain of religion. Religions belong to the domain of the duality.  From the standpoint of the Soul, the Self, the duality is merely an illusion.  Just by hugging the saint or by his feet worship, one does not get a qualification to receive Self-knowledge or Bahama Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Vedas bar human worship: ~

Translation 3

"They are enveloped in darkness, in other words, are steeped in ignorance and sunk in the greatest depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal prakrti -- the material cause of the world -- in place of the All-pervading God, But those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time."- (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

Than why worship and glorify the GURUS and YOGIS (human form)   in place of God when Veda bars such activities and  it also warns people who indulge in such activities are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time. All such acts and worship and rituals are meant for the ignorant populace, not for the seekers of truth. 

Swami Vivekananda said: ~   “You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher, but your own Soul.”

The one who thinks himself as a Guru and the one who thinks himself as a chela (disciple) will not be able to get Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana because both of them accepted themselves as the body. And all their understanding, practices, knowledge based on the false self.  

Guru –Shisya concept is a great obstacle in the pursuit of truth.  That is why a Gnani never accepted himself as a Guru or accepted anyone as his disciple because he was fully immersed in Self, which is the formless, timeless and spaceless consciousness.

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is meant only for those who have intense urge, and courage to accept the truth with humility and reject the untruth. Since people start comparing with their scriptural and intellectual knowledge, it becomes impossible to assimilate and realize the non-dual truth.   Therefore, there is no need to convince anyone other than our own selves to get a firm conviction.

It is for every seeker who is in the path of truth to prove himself to know “What is the truth, “and “What is untruth?” through deeper self-search, to assimilate the Self–Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.: ~Santthosh Kumaar