Sage Sankara himself says that a Gnani "bears no outward mark of a holy man and religious robes are for earning bread.+

In this modern world,  spirituality is a fast-selling commodity. India is a supermarket having all verities of spiritual teaching for sale in the name of spirituality.  People mostly foreigners are in search of a Guru to get Self-realization or enlightenment. Many Gurus sell their diverse spiritual package in the name of Self-realization.

The Guru is not needed to realize the Self.  The knowledge arises from within. The real Self is prior to the idea “I” which is the beginning of all of the apparent manifestation. As the levels of mistaken understanding are whittled away, this truth is able to reach out, as it were, and clear away the final barrier of the ego itself.

People think when they meet a Guru they get instant enlightenment because many people have experienced it. Such instant enlightenment is not wisdom but a hallucination. And such enlightenment or any experience of that sort is temporary.    There is no doubt people must have experienced but what they experienced is a mere hallucination. Experience implies duality. Experience is possible within form, time,  and space.

Sage Sankara clearly indicates in Viveka Chudamani (2) that the Knower of the Atman (A Gnani) "bears no outward mark of a holy man" (Stanza 539).  

So, Sage  Sankara clearly indicates A Gnani "bears no outward mark of a holy man" then why hold Gurus and Yogis who identify themselves as holy men.

From the  Advaitic perspective,  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.

Ashtavakra Samhita: ~ "The man of knowledge (Gnani), though living like an ordinary man, is contrary to him and only those like him understand his state.

Yoga Vasishtha 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 and holy men. 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. 

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.

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.

A Gnani can point at the sky, but the seeing of the star is the seeker's own work.

If you are trying to become a Guru or Monk then you are unfit to acquire Self-knowledge. Someone posing as a Gnani because he is some Gurus’ direct disciple cannot be a Gnani. Those who pose themselves as Gnanis are not Gnanis.  A Gnani never poses himself as a Guru, a swami, a sadhu or a yogi, or some Guru’s disciple. 

Different Gurus and teachers are pointing out the understanding of the Advaitic truth on different standpoints. All such understanding of Advaita is on dualistic perspective accumulated from here and there.

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

When Sage Sankara himself says that a  Gnani "bears no outward mark of a holy man and religious robes are for earning bread then it means that the religious Gurus and Yogis are not Gnanis because they identified themselves as holy people. 

A Gnani never claims himself as a Gnani, he guides the seekers, not posing himself as a Guru, and he does not force his wisdom on others.

Advaita is not a theory or a philosophy. Advaita is the nature of the Soul the innermost Self.  There is no need for any theory or philosophy or scriptures to acquire Self-knowledge. Only a perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ is needed.

Sage Sankara:~ Actual realization takes you beyond books. At a certain stage, books become a botheration.

Bhagavan Buddha: ~ Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.

You need not become a Guru or a monk to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. You have not to renounce the world or to leave anything ~ your wife, children, job, responsibilities. You do not have to renounce anything! The only thing you have to realize is the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space by realizing form, time and space are the product of ignorance. When the ignorance vanishes, the unreality of the form, time, and space is exposed.

Upanishad says:~  "He who thinks he knows, does not know." This means that to know anything implies a second, an object of knowledge, hence duality, i.e. no Gnana.

Tripura Rahasya: ~ Second-hand knowledge of the Self-gathered from books or Gurus can never emancipate a man until its truth is rightly investigated and applied; only direct realization will do that. Realize yourself, turning the mind inward. (18: 89) :~Santthosh Kumaar