Thoughts as Innocent Questions
When thoughts are believed in, they seem substantial, real, important, meaningful, and so on.
When thoughts are released from beliefs, they are revealed as innocent questions - inquiries into an aspect of the world.
So there may be the thought I am a failure.
If I believe that thought, it seems substantial and meaningful, and it will most likely make me depressed - and cause a range of other responses and reactions in me as well.
If I don't believe that thought, it just becomes an innocent invitation to inquiry. Am I a failure? Well, it obviously depends on how failure is defined, and it can easily be defined in many different ways. How does my life appear when I examine it filtered through some of these definitions? That can be a quite interesting exploration, allowing for useful and helpful insights.
This insight is just one of the many Byron Katie mentions. And it is one that seems to arise naturally from engaging in her inquiry process over time, at least it does for me. As with any insight, it is temporary and arising during one phase of the exploration process. Next time I look, it may well appear differently. Another layer may have been shed, and something else arises.