In order to advance in Spiritual life, is a Spiritual Master necessary, or can I follow scriptures and lead a Devotional life?

By reading scriptures, one can develop and rise to a higher level, but only to a certain extent. A guide is required throughout our life, be it in the form of parents, teachers or a Spiritual master. Just like if you want to study, you need a teacher, in the same way, a spiritual master is important on the path of spiritual development. An enlightened one, also known as the spiritual master, is essential for the advancement of our spiritual life. - A spiritual master is someone who has walked on the spiritual path, has experienced it, and is therefore able to guide all those who are eager to do the same. - A Spiritual master plays a special role in the advancement of our spiritual journey. - In His presence, we feel tranquil. - Even the most difficult spiritual concepts look easy when explained by the Spiritual Master, as he has the required knack of making every layman rise, one step ahead from where he is presently, in their spiritual endeavour, and thereby help each progress surely and steadily on the spiritual path. - The solutions provided by the Spiritual Master are heart-touching as one can relate with them and apply them in a very easy and simple manner. - If we lose our way, he brings us back onto the path. - His speech is such that it helps us experience the results. - A spiritual master stands besides us, right upto the end of our final spiritual journey. While scriptures provide us with the guiding light to help us enhance our intellectual understanding in life, the real happiness lies in the experience of the Self. To experience the Self and achieve eternal happiness, we need to kindle the real light within. And this can be only done by the spiritual master who has the experience of the Self and is free of anger, pride, deceit and greed. Only a lit lamp can light the other lamp!!! The enlightened one has seen the complete path to final liberation. He has known that path and He has the experience of it. Therefore, He can show us the mistakes obstructing that path; he can show us the difficulties, the obstacles and the dangers along that path. To those who have embarked on the path of liberation, the enlightened one gives complete knowledge and complete remedy to eradicate those mistakes. By attending His spiritual discourse repeatedly, listening to His speech, and understanding His interaction with the questioners, the seeker develops awareness to identify and visualise his own faults and gains strength to weed out the sprouts of faults. This practice gradually helps the seeker eradicate all his faults and dissolve the tubers completely. It helps even more when this practice is carried out under the guidance and instructions of the enlightened one, our ultimate spiritual master as He can specifically show us our mistakes that we need to focus on. He helps us identify in detail the nature of our mistakes so that we start becoming free from them. This is how the path of ultimate liberation is completed. Nevertheless, to overcome those mistakes, it is important that we remain surrendered to the enlightened one and in his presence, complete our spiritual journey. Read more: https://www.dadabhagwan.org/spiritual-masters/pujya-dadashri/about-gnani-purush/