Nisargadatta Maharaj’s emergence as a spiritual teacher unfolded gradually, as an almost unintended consequence of his own realization. As a householder and shopkeeper in Bombay, he encountered his guru, Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj of the Navnath lineage, who gave him very simple yet radical instructions: to attend unwaveringly to the bare sense of “I Am,” the feeling of pure being prior to all identifications with body and mind. This direct pointing did not involve elaborate rituals or complex philosophy; it asked for a single-pointed abidance in the fact of being. Nisargadatta took this to heart with great earnestness, maintaining his ordinary life while inwardly resting in that sense of presence.

After the death of his guru, he continued this practice with intense dedication, allowing everything else to fall into the background of awareness. Over time, this steadfast contemplation culminated in a profound shift of identity, in which the personal sense of self was seen as insubstantial in the light of a formless, timeless awareness. He regarded this as the fulfillment of his guru’s instruction, not as a personal achievement but as the natural recognition of what had always been the case. There was no deliberate decision at this stage to become a guide to others; the emphasis remained on the clarity of realization itself.

The role of teacher arose not through self-appointment but through the response of those around him. Friends, neighbors, and later seekers from farther afield began to notice the depth of his peace and the authority of his understanding, and they came to him with questions about suffering, God, and liberation. He answered them informally, often in the small space above his shop, speaking directly from his own realization while consistently honoring the grace and instruction of his guru. Over time, these spontaneous dialogues became a regular occurrence, and people were drawn to the uncompromising clarity with which he pointed them back to their own sense of being.

Thus, his teaching was less a role assumed than a function that naturally expressed itself from realization. Without founding an institution or cultivating a public persona, he allowed those who were genuinely interested to gather and inquire. The conversations that later came to be recorded were not part of a planned teaching career, but the living out of a realization that could not help but communicate itself. In this way, a simple shopkeeper, through wholehearted fidelity to a single instruction, came to serve as a mirror in which others could glimpse their own true nature.