It is a central theme in many religions and sects that an ordinary person cannot contact God directly, and that a medium and an intercession hierarchy is needed. The ancient tribal religions were based on this idea, and the shamans and priests were those mediums connecting people to God through performing prescribed rituals and incantations, with many rules governing them, many details on how to pronounce such and such word during the ritual. In some sects, for the priests it would take a lifelong to be trained and informed on all these details. The end result of such rituals and rules is that God's answer and favour will be upon the participant, prayers will be granted and rain will descend.
These ancient religions are gone but their underlying philosophy of mediumship is not. Christinaity as the largest religion espouses this notion at its center, where Jesus is the medium through him and his acts man receives the favour and salvation of God. Faith in Jesus is necessary for such mediumship to work, and here "faith" means belief in some historic events of his life. And some groups of Christians believe that certain rituals are also required for this mediumship and communion with God, and these rituals have to be done by a priest who is ordained in a specific way and trained to do these rituals in a specific way. Thus, the old priesthood resurrected and returned among us in a new garb and name as Jesus himself warned that "They come to you in sheep’s clothing" [Matthew 7:15]
And many Indian sects that reached the west also insist that man cannot reach God by himself, and the interference of a master, or as they call it guru, is needed. The aspirant must find a guru. Without a guru, their literature warns, no salvation is possible and no hope. They talk about the load of man's karma and other burdens in the way, and how he cannot overcome them by his own effort. The Guru will burn your karma and remove the burdens, only if you acknowledge him and come into his fold. This way, Guru is not just a teacher, but the bestower of salvation. And so the aspirants dedicate their whole life to the guru, trying to please him, they light candles for him, have his picture in their room and temple, and even offer worship and puja to him. For if salvation is in his hands then why look somewhere else? So the Guru replaces God for these people. A human being like you and me, who claims a special relation with God and the ability to bestow grace or even salvation by his personal choice. God guide these gurus and save us from these saviours!
And many other new religions, and may I say all that we saw so far, have such or similar principles to such extent that this is a common element in all. But this is not indeed a surprise, for Evil exists and is in active work to deviate and deceive. Some people are deviated by the pull of lust, greed and other vices. But not all can be deviated this way. Divine intuition and inherent wisdom bars some from following evil traits. These people have a tendency for religion and philosophy, and so Evil comes to them with false religions and philosophies to engage and nullify their spiritual efforts. Thus, not surprisingly, but sadly, false religions and cults are spread in the face of earth as was in the past, so is today and so will be in the future. Pure religion followers should be wary of this fact and not to be deceived. They should know the false religions and their attributes fully. Many are false religions but one is their attribute, wherewith they call people to something other than God and through means other than virtue and good deed.
Along this line, mediumship and intercession religions are all false, for true God is the God of all people and not a few elect, and the way to this God is through good work and not adherence to a master and membership in his team. Therefore, these religions erred both in regard to the nature of God and the path that leads to Him.
Every human can connect to God directly. No election is needed nor any ritual. Human, by the virtue of being created as human, is already connected. The day that God fashioned his soul, the day that Almighty breathed wisdom and understanding into the soul which is only given to human, the day that the angle of life placed him on the altar and brought him to life, on that very day he also became an elect to God and a connection to Divine was established in the seat of his soul.
The only thing that separates us from God is our choices in regard to good and evil. For in addition to God, Evil also exists, and tries to pull the soul away from the Divine. Thus, man becomes a battleground of opposite forces, and can choose which side it stands. Once we choose God, He will be available, and once we took effort in the path of goodness and virtue, He will be reached. No ritual or human approval is needed.
God is the God of all people, all nations and all earth. God is like a sun that shines to all. No one is dear or detested by him. Whoever resolves in His path and perseveres will reach His abode and Divine station. No master or medium is needed.
If there was any reference to prophets or spiritual masters in religions, it was meant to be a teacher, who teaches all these things just mentioned above. Pure religion does not deny the role of teacher. Teacher is needed for everything, for learning how to write, learning how to drive, learning mathematics and all other skills. And religion and spirituality are no exception, and even more exceptionally required.
But teacher is just a teacher, someone who teaches the truth and not someone who grants salvation or decides the fate of others. Teacher presents the student with the realities of the path, with the way and its complexities. Teacher teaches the science of morality, and at the same time serves as a model of morality. He teaches good behaviour and serves as a role model for good behavior. He inspires the student, he shows him the sweetness of God, he soothes the troubled mind of the student by mystic stories of old and how things came to accord with goodness at the end. He waits and listens to the student until he can stand on his own feet.
And as the student stands on his own feet the teacher recedes from the path, until there remains the student and God alone, and the path to go. Teacher is not someone between you and God, but behind you and pushes you to God. At the end, it will be only you and God, not the teacher, not the father, not the mother, not me, not he, not she, not anything else will be and should be between you and God.
The path should be trodden by each person alone. Nobody can walk the path for the other. There is no shortcut or back door. Teacher does not and cannot make the path easier and no bargain or favoritism is allowed in the Divine court. Favouritism and intercession are indeed rampant in human institutes, but not in the abode of God which is the house of pure Truth and pure justice. There is indeed such a thing as repentance, where one affirms the past errors with a broken heart and resolves not to repeat them again with a firm will. Repentance, if sincere, can lead to the erasing of sins. But repentance can be done directly to God and there is no need for a medium or master to be present. God is enough.
Those who teach that they are masters and can connect others to God are the most disconnected from God, and those who claim they can offload others' sins are the most sinful of people. This master cult and mediumship led to the emergence of priests and shamans in the old days and masters and gurus in the present day. They are a people who only want the power and influence that spiritual men and prophets of old had, without realizing that the source of this power and authority was truthfulness and sincere intention for God alone. They want that power without having that purity, and want that authority without the wisdom that led to it.
To achieve their goal and desires, they proclaimed themselves as a path, and in fact the path, to God, and that everyone can reach God only through them and by them. This way, men flock to them in large groups and they become influential. The credit and importance that was God's they stole for themselves. A true prophet would never make such claims, and instead will say: "I'm just a man just like you, and I point you to God, and it is with God alone that you will deal with, and from whom your pain or prosperity originate."
This priest craft did innumerable harm to humanity and to the soul of every human. All corrupted religions which are today's religions were created by these priests and for their own personal profit. The priest craft caused many fools to sit in the seat of judgment and many clowns to be role models and many superstitions to be proclaimed knowledge and wisdom. People were misled in large groups. If today people flee from religion it is due to these priests and their creed. And they are still here with us and against us.
In regard to teacher, the pure religion requires several qualifications. First: righteousness. The teacher should possess a certain degree of righteousness. The teacher does not need to be perfect, as no teacher is perfect in what he teaches. But an agreeable level which conventionally can be considered reliable and righteous should be obtained. For teaching is not just by words but by model as well. Second: pure intention. The goal of the teacher should be to bring people to God not to himself, and to benefit the whole mankind and not just himself. Third: the teacher should train the student in the path of virtue and help him to develop and practice such virtues. He should not deceive the student that he or any other human can lift him up or offer any shortcut.
The goal of pure religion is that the student should eventually become like unto his teacher. As the ancient myth narrates, you meet your teacher at the junction of the two seas (sea of material existence and sea of spiritual existence), and the teacher takes you through the seven cities (teaches you the seven cardinal virtues) and then you reach the point of departure where he will stop walking with you. This is where you have to go by yourself. The last mile of the path should be trodden alone, like a single sail ship in the sea of unknown towards the unknowable.