Adi Sankara was a Hindu philosopher and religious leader who lived in the beginning of 8th century (788-820 CE). He was the proponent of the Advita philosophy (non-duality) of Hinduism which asserts that the Brahman (Universal God) and Atman (personal soul) are the same. It is the maya (illusion) that makes us think that we are separate from Brahman. By constant inquiry and mediation one can remove the veil of maya and realize the Satyam (Truth).
Adi Sankara traveled all over India and established four Mutts (similar to a church) in the east, west, north and southern parts of India. He gave discourses and debated with philosophers during his travels. He not only gave discourses on various Hindu texts such as Vedas, Upanishads, and Bhagavad Gita, he created many of his own works such as Viveka Choodamani and Bhajagovindam.
There is a story which goes as follows. Some of his disciples after listening to his teachings for many years asked if Adi Sankara could tell the gist of his teachings in one sloka (verse) so that they could remember them easily. For that Adi Sankara is said to have replied thus: "Why one sloka? I can tell you the Truth in half a sloka", and then said to have read the following verse.
"Shlokardhena Prabakhyami Yad Uktam Grantha Kotibhihi.
Brahma Satya Jagat Mithya Jivo Brahma Eva Na Paraha."
The meaning of the sloka is as follows (translation courtesy of Chinmaya Padhi, Boloji.com)
"I am explaining in half a sloka (verse), what has been told in crores (tens of millions) of books. Brahman (God) is real, the world is an illusion, and Jeeva (atman or the soul) and Brahman (God) are the same, not different."
Ancient Hindu rishis (sages) were like scientists of our times. One difference though is that the only tool they had was their minds, and they inquired about everything possible using their minds. Thus they were not only philosophers, but they were also psychologists, neurologists, economists; even physicists and chemists. Not all they wrote was correct. Obviously they did not have access to all the tools we have. For example, they said this world was made up of five elements: earth (solids), water (liquids), air (gasses), fire (plasma) and akash (space or ether). They could not have discovered the 100+ elements and their atomic structure. Our job is to identify the statements that make sense and test them with the tools and knowledge currently we have about the physical world.
The way we perceive the world is through our sense organs: Eyes (light, fire), ears (sound, space), nose (smell, air), mouth (taste, water), and skin (touch, earth). Out of the five, the eyes and ears are the most important, and they leave a strong impression. The world we perceive includes both animate and inanimate objects. Then, some of the information is stored in memory. The mind is response of the memory.
Memory is an important aspect of living beings. People with poor memory could not function efficiently. If one starts losing memory, he/she is considered diseased. Dementia and Alzheimer disease are related to memory loss.
Ancient classification of five elements and their association with different states of matter, senses and sense organs are given in the table below:
Element State Senses Sense Organ
Earth Solid Touch Skin
Water Liquid Taste Mouth
Air Gas Smell Nose
Fire Plasma Sight Eyes
Akash Space Sound Ears
Thought is the response of memory. We have the ability to play back a scenario, and thus able to project the future. We recall the past. We are able to imagine the future. Great paintings, literary works, and great music were all created by imagination. Scientists and engineers have created marvels using their imagination. When we see a smoke we imagine the possibility of a fire. If we did not have the ability to imagine, we would not have survived as species in this world. Imagination is a signal that comes out of memory and perceived by the same area of the brain that senses the external world. When you try to recall a tune or a song, basically the memory plays it for you and the hearing part of the brain senses it. When you visualize what happened or try to imagine a scene in your mind, memory plays that scene for your brain to perceive that as it would receive the signals from the eyes.
That is there the problem lies. As you are seeing an object or a person, if the mind remains quiet, that is, when it is not doing the playback, then you see the world or the person as it is, and it is reality. However, if the mind starts interrupting and interpreting what you are seeing or hearing by superposing its ideas, you see a combined picture of the world and not the reality. There is nothing wrong with this. But, one should be aware of this superposition so that there is no confusion between the reality and imagination.
When Sankara says the Jagat is mithya, he means the above phenomenon of superposition of reality and memory, which results in an illusory world. Then, what is the quality of perception that is not muddled by the memory. We all have experienced that at one time or the other. At times of crisis we pay complete attention to the surroundings. Our hearing becomes acute. Eye sight sharpens. Scientists have recently found out that even our nose becomes sensitive. Then you look at the world with at most attention with a quiet brain that is not chattering. Then what you see or what you perceive by all of your senses is the Brahman (God). That is what Adi Sankara means when he says Brahma Stayam.
Now compare this with some of the attributes of God according to various religions and cultures: God is everywhere. God is Truth. God is bliss or happiness. God is within you. God is nature. Honest work is God. God is the creator. God is the protector.
When the wandering mind becomes quiet, it actually disappears. There is no such thing as a quiet mind. It is an oxymoron. There is no such thing as quiet noise. Your mind is either chattering or it disappears.
Silence has the same quality, whether it is due to absence of television chatter or noise from a dishwasher. Noises from different sources have different quality, but the silence is always the same. Your television is making noise. You turn it off. It looks like that the ensuing silence came from the TV. But the silence has always been there. Similarly the Brahman is always there, timeless. Brahman includes all objects, the rivers and mountains, the oceans and the forests, you and me and all the animals. The first verse of Purusha Suktam tells:
sahasra Seersha purusha, sahasraksha sahasrapat
sa bhumim vishvato vrtva, atyatishtad dasangulam
Translation (courtesy of Ramanuja.org): Thousands of heads has the great being. Thousands of eyes has He, and thousands of legs. He manifests the world. He stands beyond the count of ten fingers.
The sages want to describe Brahman, but could not find enough words. Because the words are finite; thought is finite and limited. It is only when the mind is quiet and thought is absent, one can see the fullness of the world. The mind causes fragmentation of the world. When one sees the fullness of the world or the universe, one sees the Brahman.
In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, as described in Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna, the great archer, was offered the vision of God through divine eyes. After seeing God, Arjuna exclaims (translation courtesy of Juan Mascaro):
"If the light of a thousand suns suddenly arose in the sky, that splendor might be compared to the radiance of Supreme Spirit".... "All around I behold thy infinity: the power of thy innumerable arms, the visions from thy innumerable eyes, the words from thy innumerable mouths, and the power of life of thy innumerable bodies. Nowhere I see the beginning or middle or end of thee, O God of all, Form Infinite" - Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11, Verses 12 and 16
Truth is the world one perceives when the mind is quiet with choiceless awareness. Thought, which is the response of memory, superposes its own image over the truth and changes one's perception of the world.