The one who knows the truth, will never accept himself as guru. One who accepts himself as guru does not know the truth

  

The Guru is needed in only in the path of  religion and yoga, but not in pursuit of truth. The one who knows the truth, will never accept himself as guru. One who accepts himself as guru does not know the truth.  If one’s inquiry and reasoning are well directed, then the truth will start revealing on its own.

The one who identifies himself as swami, guru or yogi is not a Gnani. A Gnani never identifies himself as swami, guru, pundit or yogi. Swami, guru, pundit or yogi belongs to religious and yogic path not to the path of truth or wisdom.  

Nisargadatta Maharaj:-If you seek reality you must set yourself free of all backgrounds, of all cultures, of all patterns of thinking and feeling. Even the idea of being man or woman, or even human should be discarded.

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.”

Sri, Sankara's commentary:-

Page 489: "The knower of Brahman (self-realized or Gnani) wears no signs.  Page 500 asks in effect "Tell us what you know, show it, and let us examine it under the mental microscope." It means we must bring notions and beliefs out of vagueness into clearness. It also criticizes the mystics who claim superior knowledge but who cannot communicate it for purposes of verification.

On page 482: On Gnani: "The knower of Brahman wears no signs. Gives up the insignia of a monk's life,…his signs are not manifest, nor his behavior."

Yoga Vasishtha :- "Teachers, interpretations of sacred texts, the force of religious merit--none of these lead to the realization of that Ultimate Truth which is revealed in the clear reflection of the heart, engendered from contact with the good."

The religion, the concept of god and scriptures are the greatest obstacle to acquire self-knowledge.  The scriptural knowledge fuels the ego. And ego makes one experience the duality as reality.  Duality makes one blind to the truth, and makes one accept, the egocentric theories based on the false self as an authority.

The self is not an individual because it is universal. And it pervades in everything and everywhere in all the three states. Thus individualized judgment will not lead one non-dual destination.  

 That is why Sri,Sankara says:- (V C) :-65. As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying above it and (finally) grasping, but never comes out by being (merely) called out by name, so the transparent Truth of the self, which is hidden by Maya and its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted arguments.

66. Therefore the wise should, as in the case of disease and the like, personally strive by all the means in their power to be free from the bondage of repeated births and deaths.

Thus one has to know what is real by realizing our body and our experience of the world is mere illusion created out of consciousness, which the innermost self.  The nature of the self is emptiness. And it is identified by different masters with different name, such as God or Brahman or Buddha’s nature or Christ consciousness or Self, Ultimate Truth.

In  the realm of  of truth, the karma theory has no meaning, because the soul or Atman is prior to the body and the world. The body and the world are impermanent; whereas the soul or Atman is permanent.  The true self is not the body, because the body and the world are insentient.  The body and the world are illusion on the standpoint of the sentient, which is Atman. 

The whole illusion is created, sustained and finally dissolves as Atman or consciousness; therefore there is no second thing in the experience of diversity, other then Atman. Thus Atman pervades in everything and everywhere in the experience of diversity (illusion). Hence it is non-dual.  Thus limiting the self to the body, is the cause of the ignorance.  And ignorance is the cause of duality. Duality is the cause of experiencing the illusion as reality.

 Religious Advaita accepts the concept of god in many forms. In spiritual pursuit of truth, the soul or Atman itself is ultimate truth or Brahman (ultimate truth).  And the ultimate truth itself is worthy of Godhood.   

The Buddha rejected religion, the concept of God and the scriptures, no one called the Buddha an atheist, instead the Hindus accepted him as an Avatar. J. Krishnamurti with all his grooming and upbringing condemned priest craft, but accepted by the spiritual world, as a man of wisdom. There is no need to condemn any religion, God men,  guru  and scriptures, but there is a need to know the truth, and reject the untruth, after verifying thoroughly. Seeker of truth should never accept anything as truth without verifying the validity of any claim, and accept only the un-contradictable truth.