[1] He was born Maung Hla Baw to Daw Shwe Ake and U Aung Tun in a small village close to Amarapura in Mandalay Province, Burma on 27 December 1899.

[2] Hla Baw began his education at 4, and enrolled as a samanera or novitiate at age 9 under U Jagara.

[2] In 1920,[2] he was ordained as a bhikkhu (monk) in the tradition of Burmese Buddhism with the dharma name Vimala (ဝိမလ) which means "stainless, Undefiled."

He focused on the insight learning of the dynamic nature of mind and materials in his teaching.

His teaching audio recordings are still available and learnt by Myanmar Buddhists to learn meditation methods.