[ricochettty]

Is giving bayah to a shaykh the only way to have a self-cleaning relationship?

No. Self cleaning is obligatory and Bayt is merely Mustahab.

Some times to draw attention to contemporary contingencies Masha-ikh over emphasize some points. It is like in a small community people going about their own business but in times of emergence everybody is diverted to a single task like building a band for protection against flood or fetching water to extinguish a blazing fire.