“You are not letting go of your goal to attain enlightenment, you’re letting go of your ego’s attachment to enlightenment by killing any and all Buddhas you may discover along the path.” G Z McGee
“Whereas the beautiful is limited, the sublime is limitless, so that the mind in the presence of the sublime, attempting to imagine what it cannot, has pain in the failure but pleasure in contemplating the immensity of the attempt” –Immanuel Kant
Here’s the thing: enlightenment is an illusion, but the path toward enlightenment is exceptionally real. It seems like a contradiction, but it’s not. The essence of the sublime is letting go of our attachment to the goal and allowing the journey to be the thing.
There are roadblocks and tripwires and briar patches galore, but even they are an essential aspect of the journey. In fact, the most fulfilling moments in the journey are when we gain the capacity to transform roadblocks into stepping stones, tripwires into jump ropes, and briar patches into crowns of thorn.
Here are seven hang-ups in particular to let go of in order to attain a state of sublime impeccability.
1. Let go of Fear
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” –Plato
The ability to recognize fear is an essential aspect of our survival, but when the ego becomes attached to fear it can become an obstruction to survival. Fear becomes our puppeteer, and we become its floundering puppets. This type of fear is almost always preconditioned. Letting go of it is tantamount to letting go of our first layer of skin, a difficult task indeed. Gain the courage of the Snake, who regularly sheds its skin.
Make it a part of your meditation practice. Like the Kundalini snake rising up through the 7 chakras, you too can gain this essential power. In fact, it would behoove you to imagine each of these steps as a snake shedding its skin. This way the “letting go” is a sacred process, a beautiful unfolding, an honoring of the previous skin and what it taught us, and a celebration of the new skin and the new adventures to be had. But first, let go of fear. Alchemically transform it into courage. Re-baptize yourself into a Courage of the First Order. Meditate on the root chakra.
2. 
Let go of Guilt
“The religious perception of reality is about guilt, sin and blame, and that’s the trap. That’s the chains that hold every citizen. The spiritual perception of reality is about responsibility. We’re all responsible. We’re not guilty, we’re responsible. And it’s trying to make our way through these two perceptions of reality that seems to be the biggest problem we’re confronted with as human beings on the planet right now.” –John Trudell
Letting go of guilt is as simple as forgiving ourselves. The problem is: forgiving ourselves is exceptionally difficult. Cultural and familial pressures abound. Grief too is almost always preconditioned. Letting go of guilt is allowing ourselves the power to recondition the precondition. Transform the blueprint. Rework the woodwork.
Let it all come tumbling down, forgive yourself, and then build it all back up, your way. The art of the sublime can never be discovered their way, or my way, it can only be discovered your way. Boundaries are illusions, especially those dictated by culture. Stretch your boundaries the way Neo bends spoons in The Matrix, by realizing, “There is no spoon (boundary).” Like Rumi said, “Why do you stay in prison when the door is wide open?” Meditate on the sacral chakra.
3. Let go of Shame
SF Source FractalEnlightenment July 17 2014
(Thanks, A)