There is no need for a Guru for acquiring Advaitic Wisdom or Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.+

The feat of a Guru, touching people and thus putting them into mystic states is purely a physical or at best a psychological one; based on the power of suggestions it has nothing to do with epistemology, with the question of truth. The truth is not physical because the ultimate truth is the Soul or the Spirit. 

If you are worshipping a human being as God you are worshiping ignorance as God.  If you are seeking truth nothing but the truth you must restrain all such activities which block, your realization of the ultimate truth or Brahman or God.

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.

A Guru is needed in the religious and the yogic path.  There is no need for a Guru to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Vedas clearly says those who worship 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.

Guru worship is not a Vedic idea.  It is adapted for Buddhism and Jainism.  The seeker of truth need not indulge non-Vedic acts, which keeps him permanently in the prison of ignorance.

Why worship and glorify the Gurus and Yogis (human form)   in place of God when Veda bars such activities and 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.

Remember:~

Vedas bar human worship: ~

Translation:~

"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.)

Many people are stuck to the idea that without a Guru, Truth -realization is impossible. Guru is only a religious fable.  They do not even know that what the Guru teaches is the truth.

Gurus themselves dwelling in darkness preach their way is the only way and the followers of the Gurus follow the dualistic path like the blind led by the blind.

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 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.

A Guru is needed in the religious and the yogic path.  There is no need for a Guru to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

A person who realized the ultimate truth or Brahman will throw off his religious robe and all religious identity and live like a commoner. He never identifies himself as Gnani nor does he identify himself as superior to others. He only shares his knowledge with fellow seekers.

Remember:~

A Gnani never identifies himself as a Guru or a Yogi or someone disciple.  The one who accepts himself as a Guru or someone’s disciple is not a Gnani.

Sage Sankara: ~ "Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread."

So he wore a Guru's robe only for the sake of the ignorant. So he was identified as Guru with parampara by religious people. For the truth seekers, Sage Sankara is a Brahma Gnani.

Sage Sankara himself said: ~ A Gnani "bears no outward mark of a holy man" (Stanza 539).

Thus, it proves that the religious gurus and yogis are not Gnanis because they identified themselves as holy people.

All those who wore sanyasin robes wore them for the sake of bread and belonged to the religion; they are nothing to do with Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

There is no need to criticize and condemn the gurus, yogis, and swamis because they are needed for the welfare of the ignorant masses in the dualistic world.

Even Swami Vivekananda was Ramakrishna Paramahansa's disciple.  Swami Vivekananda himself said: ~   “You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, and none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher, but your own Soul.”:~ Santthosh Kumaar