Self-realization itself is God-realization because the Soul, the Self itself is God.+

You are struggling to realize the truth because you are caught up in the prison of your emotions and sentimentally involve with the physical Guru. Until you remain in the prison of the emotion you will never be able to cross the threshold of the dualistic illusion. Your physical Guru belongs to the dualistic illusion or Maya. 

The Soul, the innermost Self. Knowing and realizing Soul as the ‘Self’ is Self- Realization or Truth-Realization or God-realization. 

Self-realization itself is God-realization: ~

In Vedas, God has been described as: ~

v Sakshi (Witness)

v Chetan (conscious)

v Nirguna (Without form and properties)

v Nitya (eternal)

v Shuddha (pure)

v Buddha (omniscient)

v   Mukta (unattached).

The nature of the Atman (Soul) is: ~

   

v Witness

v  Conscious

v  Without form and properties

v  Eternal

v  Pure

v Omniscient

v  Unattached

The Soul, the ‘Self is the Infinite God. 

The Soul is the innermost Self. God is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. God is the fullness of the consciousness without the illusory division of form, time, and space.  Therefore, there is nothing apart from it. 

God in truth is Self-evident. God in truth is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny God in truth because God in truth is the very essence of the one who denies it. God in truth is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. God in truth is hidden by the universe in which you exist, God in truth is without the universe in which you exist.

The Vedas confirm God is Atman (Spirit), the Self.

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~  God is Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions. Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ Brahman (God) is in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.

People, who worship the belief of God, are hallucinating that they become one with such God.

Vedas itself says: May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman? Thus, to know the real God Self-realization is necessary. Self-realization is God-realization. Self-realization itself is real worship.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman, the Self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

How can you worship God? That implies two ~ the worshiper and the worshiped, whereas God is nondual. One can worship his idea of God only or realize his unity with it when he can’t worship it as apart.

When Upanishads and Vedas declare that, “God is present in the form of the Athma, and God is indeed Athma itself” then why accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman.

God is the Supreme Being the One eternal homogeneous essence, indivisible consciousness, and intelligence, which is beyond form, time, and space. To which the Sages describe in a variety of ways through diverse words.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ ‘All those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they worship many God s. (7- Verse -20)

Only the path of wisdom leads the seeker of truth on his journey to the ultimate realization of the true nature of the Universal Essence, which is the Soul. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.

Bhagavad Gita: 7: 19:~ "Such a man who has attained true knowledge, the knowledge of Self, the knowledge of Atman, worships ‘Self’ as~ Atman (God) alone exists~ everything is Atman, there exists nothing except Atman. Such a man is extremely rare."

Bhagavad Gita: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God) is considered the all-pervading consciousness, which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material. (14.27).

When Bhagavad Gita says, God is considered the all-pervading consciousness which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material then nothing has to be accepted as God other than consciousness.

Lord Krishna Says Ch ~V: ~ “Those who know the Self in truth.". The last two words (tattvataha) are usually ignored by pundits, but they make all the difference between the ordinary concept of God and the truth about God. 

The dualistic worship of "God” is only for the ignorant populace. The God in truth is only Atman, the Self. In reality, there is no duality, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV-13:~ ‘As a mass of salt has neither inside nor outside, but is entirely a mass of taste, thus indeed, has that Self neither inside nor outside but is altogether a mass of Knowledge. Just as a lump of salt has inside as well as outside one and the same saltish taste, not any other taste, so also that Brahman (Consciousness) has inside as well as outside one and the same intelligence. Inside and outside are mental creations only. When the mind melts in silence, ideas of inside and outside vanish. The Sages cognize one illimitable, homogeneous mass of consciousness only.

Remember:~ 

If you hold physical Guru as God and worship him then you are worshipping the illusion. You should not hold anything of the illusion as God. You do not require the grace of the physical Guru. You will get the grace of the inner Guru when you fix your attention on the Soul by realizing the Soul alone is real and all else is an illusion.

If you are seeking the truth you should not indulge in glorifying Gurus and yogis. Guru worship is meant for the religious and yogic path, not for the Gnanic path. You and Gurus and yogi belong to dualistic illusion. Thus, their blessings and grace are bound to be illusory.

Yogis and Gurus are not Gods.

This idea of worshiping Guru as God is not a Vedic idea but adopted from Jainism and Buddhism.

Vedas bars human worship: ~

Yajur Veda:~ "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.)

Then to why worship and glorify the Guru s 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.

God exists prior to form, time, and space. The form, time, and space cease to exist as a reality when wisdom dawns. Thus, the Gods and Guru s have no place in the domain of the Advaitic reality. Advaita is the nature of the Soul is the real God. Thus, Self-realization is the only way to God-realization.

By worshipping the religious Gods and Guru s one will not get Self-realization or God-realization.

The Soul, the inner Guru revels ‘what is real’ and ‘what is unreal” when the seeker is receptive and ready.

Advaita is the inner revolution. If you are serious and sincerely seeking truth then you have to drop what is not needed in pursuit of truth.

Sage Sri, Sankara: ~ "Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread." (Select Works of Sage Sri, Sankara" also his commentary on Brihad)

Thus, the above passage proves that all those who were the sanyasin robes are wearing it for the sake of bread belongs to the religion; they are nothing to do with the 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 ignorant masses in the dualistic world.

Sage Sankara says the transparent Truth of the Self, which is hidden by the illusion, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, (Gnani)

~ Then why you are sticking a Guru who is not a Gnani.

That is why 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.

A person who realized the ultimate truth or Brahman will throw off his religious robe and all religious identity and lives 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.

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.

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