All is being worked out all the time. It’s all a work in progress.
It’s not that private self-awakenings without any guidance, without even any practice, don’t happen. It’s clear they sometimes do. It’s that it might be wise to be skeptical of the claims that are sometimes made about them – claims to having become an exalted human being, with the right, and even injunction, to lead others, for example, or to found hitherto unknown, brand-new spiritual systems. Caution might be wise, toward people who do that.
They will likely not be the first to have trod the territory, in spite of what they may think. There are seasoned methods for reaching comparable clarity, which in addition take stock of the various ways in which we need to grow, and of the hazards and pitfalls of being a spiritual guide to others, with means of checking and sanctioning leaders and guides, of retaining accountability, and so on. Not to mention deeper knowledge of the pitfalls anyone of us encounter, guides or not, on the spiritual path.
Nothing is perfect alas in this world (except that it’s all perfect, whole and complete also). All is being worked out all the time. It’s all a work in progress. We may as well get help where we can.