Sayadaw U Tejaniya's teaching on the phrase "If you try to let go, it's not letting go" is a central theme in his approach to Vipassanā (insight meditation), which emphasizes a relaxed, aware, and non-interfering way of practicing. This concept directly challenges the common misconception that meditation is about forcing the mind to be still or striving to eliminate certain thoughts or feelings.

​易 The Problem with "Trying to Let Go"

​The moment you perceive a thought, feeling, or sensation as something that needs to be released, and you exert mental effort to make it go away—that effort is itself a form of clinging or resistance.

• ​It's a form of Self-Grasping: The act of "trying to let go" is an action initiated by the sense of a "self" or "doer" who believes they are in charge of the mind. This "self" judges the current experience as undesirable and tries to manipulate it. This struggle reinforces the very ego or illusion of self that meditation aims to transcend.
• ​It Creates Duality: "Trying to let go" instantly sets up a duality: the 'good' state (let go/peaceful) and the 'bad' state (holding on/disturbed). This judgment and desire for a different state is, according to the teachings, a form of craving (taṇhā), which is the root of suffering.
• ​It's Based on Wrong Understanding: If a thought or feeling could be permanently expelled by trying, everyone would be peaceful all the time. The reality is that mental phenomena are impermanent (anicca) and arise and pass away due to conditions. Trying to control this flow is like trying to stop the waves in the ocean; it only causes mental exhaustion.

​ Sayadaw U Tejaniya's Solution: Awareness and Acknowledgment

​Instead of making "letting go" an action, U Tejaniya teaches that true letting go is a result of right understanding and awareness.

​1. Relaxed Awareness (Knowing)

​The core instruction is to be aware of the mind's tendency to hold on, try, or resist, without trying to fix it.

• ​Know the Intention: When a thought arises and you notice the mind wanting to push it away, or "let go," simply be aware of the intention to push away. This is the object of awareness. For example, if you're angry, don't try to stop the anger; just know, "Ah, the mind is angry and it is trying to suppress the anger."
• ​Relax the Effort: The effort to change the experience is what causes tension and prevents insight. When you notice tension or striving, relax the effort, but keep the awareness. This is a delicate balance: don't relax the awareness, only the striving.
• ​Focus on the Qualities of Mind: Instead of focusing intensely on physical sensations (like in some traditions), U Tejaniya encourages checking the "quality of the mind". Is the mind tense, relaxed, curious, resisting, happy, or dull? When you notice a holding-on, the quality is usually tense and restless. Simply know this quality.

​2. The Knowing Mind Naturally Lets Go

​True letting go happens by itself when the mind gains a clear and non-judgmental understanding of the object.

• ​Insight is the Release: When you simply and clearly know that "this is resistance," "this is grasping," or "this is planning," the mind's tendency to identify with it weakens. The thought or feeling is seen simply as a process—a temporary mental object—not "my" problem to solve. This non-identification is wisdom (paññā), and wisdom is what naturally dissolves clinging.
• ​Letting Go is the Result, Not the Action: The moment you clearly see the impermanent, unsatisfactory, and non-self nature of the thought (e.g., you see that the thought is just a thought, arising and passing), the mind automatically ceases to cling. The letting go is a spontaneous side effect of seeing things as they truly are, not something you actively do.

​律 Analogy: Holding Sand

​A common analogy used for this concept is holding a handful of sand.

• ​Trying to Let Go: If you tightly clench your fist and try to force the sand out, you only crush it harder into your palm. This is the act of striving—it only increases the tension and clinging.
• ​True Letting Go: To let the sand fall away naturally, you simply relax the grip. You don't perform a new action; you cease the action of gripping. In the mind, this is ceasing the mental effort of control and simply knowing the experience as it is.

The essence of U Tejaniya's instruction is: Don't try to be calm; just know the mind that is not calm. If you know the mind that is trying to let go, you are already practicing correctly, because you are aware. The "knowing" is what sets the conditions for the mind to naturally settle, relax, and release its objects.

Key Takeaways

• ​The Object is the Clinging: The actual object of awareness isn't always the content (e.g., the specific memory), but the mind's reaction to it (the grasping, the judging, the wishing it would go away).
• ​Right Attitude: The practice should be done with a relaxed, interested, light, and non-judgmental attitude.
• ​Letting Go = Letting Know: The ultimate form of letting go is allowing the mind to know its own states clearly and continuously. The knowledge is the antidote to the delusion (ignorance) that causes clinging.