also, to love God is to know God not just because God is love, but because God is worthy of love, obviously.

anydangway, I'm not totally sure how I feel about guru veneration, aka veneration of the liberated (the non-liberated should not be spiritual gurus). its said that to know Brahman is to be Brahman, yes, and jivanmuktas/buddhas have all sort of adorable qualities because of their knowledge and purity (omniscience, sinlessness, and various incredible powers). I think that my argument about worship with true knowledge never being a sin applies here too. if you truly know your guru is God and she has attained God-realization, then you are not in error by worshipping her, even though the liberated dont have all of Gods qualities, being still limited in various ways (having perishable form and not possessing infinite power or freedom) until they die and merge in God. I dont believe that blind faith your guru is God is enough, because one can have complete faith anything (like an LLM) is God, and without knowledge of the truth of monism, this is delusion and sin. anyway, this kind of intense faith with right knowledge comes very late on most peoples spiritual path in the age of kali yuga. so for the neophyte, or worse, for third parties, guru worship very easily leads them further from God.

many hindus dont just show gurus reverence, but show all devotees reverence. this is very prominent among vaisnavas, who greet eachother with "dandavat" referring to bowing like a stick. I dont believe that just anyone should be bowed to in this manner, only the liberated, and only with right knowledge. right knowledge means knowledge and faith in this knowledge. knowledge without faith in it can never fructify in spiritual realization.

I should restate that we are living in kali yuga, the most depraved of eras. most gurus are not liberated, and most devotees are easily misled. in such a time idolatry aka worship of what is not God is inevitable.