If one wants self-realization he has to first discard all inherited belief and stop going after the gurus or any teaching.

If one wants self-realization he has to first discard all inherited belief and stop going after the gurus or any teaching. If one is not after self-realization then he must follow what makes him happy and contended.  Self-knowledge is only for those who are in quest of ultimate truth or Brahman.    

People who think by worshiping their gurus as God in human form in order to get self-realization are unaware of the fact that, accepting someone as guru and himself as disciple is greatest obstacle in the path of truth. The person who accepts himself as guru is not a Gnani, because he has already accepted self as body whereas the self is not the body. The person who accepts himself as disciple of some guru also considers his self as body thus; it becomes a great hindrance in path of truth. Guru is essential in religious and yogic path but not for Self-Realization.      

One  must study the wisdom propagated by Gnanis like Sri, Ramana Maharishi very deeply and try to attain the same realization which he  had, rather than spend their energies by indulging in  glorifying and worship his form. As per the scriptures worshiping human form leads on to darkness.  The main aim of human life is to acquire self-knowledge.

Religious literature of Hinduism   one finds  many 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 scores of  similar others. They abound both in Sanskrit and in modern Indian languages. 

  Some celebrated philosopher-saints also like Jnandev, Eknath and so many others all over India have offered their first salutations and importance to the Guru in their various books.

GURUR BRAHMD GURUR VISHNU

GURUR DEVO MAHESHVARAH,

GURUH SAKASHATH  PARAM BRAHMA

TASMAI SRI GURAVE NAMAH.

Sri Ramana Maharishi never claimed himself as guru nor did he accept anyone as his disciple. He was eminent sage, well respected, and the world regarded him as a great and noble seer.

My views in my blogs derived from deeper self-search are general and irrespective of any particular person or person beliefs. 

Mundaka Upanishad says:- The rituals and the sacrifices described in the Vedas deal with lower knowledge. The sages ignored these rituals and went in search of higher knowledge. ... Such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing The sea of samsara, of birth and death. Doomed to shipwreck are those who try to cross The sea of samsara on these poor rafts. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise In their own esteem, these deluded men Proud of their vain learning go round and round Like the blind led by the blind.

When sages themselves found rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing The sea of samsara, of birth and death and ignored them and they the Mundaka Upanishad further suggest that, such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing the realm of duality those who try to cross The realm of duality on these poor rafts are  Doomed to shipwreck are. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise in their own esteem, these deluded people [punndiths] proud of their vain learning go round and round like the blind led by the blind.

 Therefore, if one wants to acquire Atma Jnana or   Bramha Jnana or Self- Knowledge or knowledge of consciousness one has to drop all ritualistic and orthodox baggage to move forward in their pursuit of truth.  

Until and unless one overcomes physical shackle it is impossible to understand and assimilate the nondual truth, which is beyond the physical existence or the universe.  Consciousness itself is lord of itself though not of the universe. And having nothing it has all.

Sri, Sankara says in VivekaChudamani   :- 

56. Neither by Yoga, nor by Sankhya, nor by work, nor by learning, but by the realisation of one's identity with Brahman is Liberation possible, and by no other means. 

58. Loud speech consisting of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures, and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to the scholar, but are no good for Liberation.

59. The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.

60. The Scriptures consisting of many words are a dense forest which merely causes the mind to ramble. Hence men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature of the Self.

61. For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae) and medicines to such a one?

62. A disease does not leave off if one simply utter the name of the medicine, without taking it; (similarly) without direct realisation one cannot be liberated by the mere utterance of the word Brahman.

63. Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of the word Brahman ? — It would result merely in an effort of speech.

64. Without killing one’s enemies, and possessing oneself of the splendour of the entire surrounding region, one cannot claim to be an emperor by merely saying, ‘I am an emperor’.

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.

67. The question that thou hast asked today is excellent, approved by those versed in the Scriptures, aphoristic, pregnant with meaning and fit to be known by the seekers after Liberation.

Thus Sankara clearly suggests direct realization of truth is not possible through punditry or orthodoxy.  Why to follow the traditional path, which does not yield any fruit.  Therefore, Seeker of truth has to take the direct path and avoid losing precious time and effort loosing himself in philosophical studies and traditional path. 

All the religionists  believe in god and goddesses [vidya] and performing rituals  and other sacrifices[Avidya] both are hindrance to self-knowledge according to Ish Upanishds,  then why the seeker of truth needs worshipping of  god and goddesses, when essence of Adavita  is Atman is Brahman [soul or self as ultimate reality]. 

When Sri,Sankara declares:-  the world is myth and Brahman alone is real then why worships the  guru and gods of this  unreal world .  That is why Veda bars such worships and people who indulge in such activities will suffer and sink into darkness.  And Upanishads says self-realization is the human goal. Therefore, one has to strive only for self-realization or truth realization.       

 When the self is formless there is no need for pada pooja [feet worship] of Adavitin gurus to get freedom. A guru who preaches conduct as the means to freedom, believes in birth, life death and the world as reality, whereas the Advaitic sage Sri, Sankara declares the world as unreal.  Therefore, how actions performed in unreal world can get moksha or freedom. Therefore there is need to know the fact that, the self is not physical in order to understand and assimilate and realize the truth beyond physicality.

 That is why Gaudapada says that: - The merciful Veda teaches karma and Upaasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while Jnana is taught to those of higher intellect.

Thus Goudapada suggest that the religious paths and worship of guru and conceptual god are lower and middling intellect.  But in this modern world people are sharp enough to understand and assimilate ultimate truth or Brahman or god. Thus people who wants higher truth then it is high time to discard the lower knowledge and move ahead to realize the ultimate truth, which is Brahman or God.   

They alone in this world are endowed with the highest wisdom who are firm in their conviction of the sameness and birthlessness of Atman. The ordinary man does not understand their way. [Chapter IV — Alatasanti Prakarana 95-P-188 in Upanishads by Nikilanada]

Therefore, if one is seeking truth he has to know his true self is not physical but it is the Atman, which is in the form of consciousness.  

Isa Upanishads indicates that: By worshiping gods and goddesses and going to the world of gods after death is of no use.  The time one spends in ritualistic practices is wasted; one can spend same time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is the main goal. 

One cannot reach the non-dual destination by glorifying god and goddesses and by doing that, one goes deeper and deeper into darkness. It surely indicates the fact that, the seeker of truth has to drop the worshiping god and goddess in order to get self-knowledge.