In time, we start to notice how all experience arises and passes away – sensations, emotions, even our sense of self. We see that nothing is solid or permanent. A thought comes, and we recognize it as just a thought, not a command or an absolute truth. A feeling of anger arises, and instead of being consumed by it, we see it as a passing energy in the body and mind.

This is where true freedom lies – not in controlling experience, but in being with it fully, without identification. Awareness is like the sky: thoughts and emotions are like clouds that drift through. The sky doesn’t hold onto them or resist them; it simply allows them to come and go.

Larry Rosenberg, Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation