Sayadaw U Tejaniya’s teaching: Just remove the defilements, then awareness is already there

This single sentence beautifully captures the essence of Sayadaw U Tejaniya's approach to Vipassana (insight) meditation. "Just remove the defilements, then awareness already there" summarizes his core teaching on the relationship between mental purity and mindfulness. Key Concepts Behind This Statement Defilements as the Obstacle: He teaches that the primary reason we are not naturally and continuously aware (mindful) is because our mind is clouded and agitated by defilements (kilesas), such as greed, hatred, aversion, worry, doubt, and delusion (wrong view). These defilements are the "noise" that drowns out the quiet, inherent awareness. Sayadaw encourages practitioners to pay attention to the quality of the observing mind and recognize when it is tainted by defilement, which he calls having the wrong attitude. Awareness is Natural: The mind's natural state, when unburdened, is knowing or awareness. You don't have to try to create awareness; it is already present. The Focus of Practice: Therefore, the meditator's job is not to strain to achieve awareness, but rather to use a relaxed, continuous awareness to see and understand the defilements when they arise. Once the defilements are seen clearly and understood (i.e., you know they are "just anger," "just wanting," "just worry," and not "me" or "mine"), the wisdom that arises from this seeing naturally causes them to weaken and drop away. Wisdom is the Real Purifier: While awareness is necessary to spot the defilements, it is wisdom (Right Understanding) that actually does the work of "removing" them. As wisdom deepens, the defilements simply cannot hold a long-term place in the mind, and the underlying awareness becomes clear, continuous, and natural. He often emphasizes practicing with a relaxed attitude because straining or forcing awareness itself often comes from a defilement (like wanting a result or wanting to get rid of something), which only adds tension and further obscures clarity.