18. Awakened

18. Awakened!

Siddhartha's mind was calm and relaxed. Slowly his concentration deepenedand his wisdom grew brighter. In his mind's eye he saw far into the past.He saw that when one life ended, another began. Death only brought thebody to an end; life itself continued on and on finding a new body againand again.

He saw that when a person did evil in one life - such as harming anotherhe or she experienced sadness in the future. But when a person acted withlove, happiness and joy followed. Nothing anyone did was ever lost, butwas carried on from life to life, bringing happiness or pain.

As he discovered how all life is linked together in this way, deeper truthsappeared to his mind. The sun, planets, all the stars, the galaxies ofthe universe - they all appeared in his meditation. He saw how everything,from the smallest speck of dust to the largest star, was linked together.Everything was constantly changing: growing, decaying, and growing, again.Nothing happened without a cause, and every cause produced an effect.

Then he saw all the sufferings of the world. He saw how everyone – fromthe smallest insect to the greatest king - ran after pleasure, only toend up with unhappiness. And he discovered the reason for all this unhappiness.He saw that people do not really understand that everything is always changing.They are blind to this truth. In their blindness they fight and steal andkill for the things they want, but these things can never bring them lastinghappiness. Soon they change or decay, and the search starts again.

He saw that people fight against the things they dislike. Their whole lifeis filled with hatred and anger. And every time they harm someone else,they suffer for it later. They go from lifetime to lifetime creating moreunhappiness for themselves. They are searching for peace, but find nothingbut pain. Finally he discovered the way to end all this suffering. If aperson could see the truth clearly - as he himself had seen it this night- all running after pleasure and away from pain would stop. There wouldbe no more greed or hatred in the person's mind. He or she would no longerdo anything to harm anyone else. Thus, there would be no more unhappinessto be felt. With all hatred finished, the person's heart would fill withlove. And this love would bring a peace and happiness unlike anything else.

When Siddhartha had seen all this, even the last speck of darkness disappearedfrom his mind. He was filled with a radiant clear light. He was no longeran ordinary person. He had become fully enlightened to the truth. He wasnow a Buddha (24). He had reached his goal!

With a calm and peaceful smile, he arose from his meditation. It was morning,and the sun was rising in the east.