Siddhartha’s mind was calm and relaxed. Slowly his concentration deepened and 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 the body to an end; life itself continued on and on finding a new body again and again.

He saw that when a person did evil in one life—such as harming another—he or she experienced sadness in the future. But when a person acted with love, and happiness, joy followed. Nothing anyone did was ever lost, but was carried on from life to life, bringing happiness or pain.

As he discovered how all life is linked together in this way, deeper truths appeared to his mind. The sun, planets, all the stars, the galaxies of the 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 from growing, decaying, and growing again. Nothing happened without a cause, and every cause produced an effect.

He then saw all the sufferings of the world. He saw how everyone from the smallest insect to the greatest king ran after pleasure, only to end up unhappy. And he discovered the reason for all this unhappiness. He saw that people did not really understand that everything is always changing. They are blinded by the truth. In their blindness, they fight, steal, and kill for the things they want, but these things can never bring them lasting happiness. Soon they change or decay, and the search starts again.

He saw that people fight against the things they dislike. Their whole life is filled with hatred and anger. And every time they harm someone else, they suffer for it later. They go from lifetime to lifetime creating more unhappiness for themselves. They are searching for peace, but find nothing but pain.

Finally, he discovered the way to end all this suffering. If a person could see the truth clearly as he himself had. There would be no more greed or hatred in the person’s mind. He or she would no longer do anything to harm anyone else. Thus, there would be no more unhappiness felt. With all hatred finished, a person’s heart would fill with love. And this love would bring a peace and happiness unlike anything else.

When Siddhartha had seen all this, even the last speck of darkness disappeared from his mind. He was filled with a radiant clear light. He was no longer an ordinary person. He had become fully enlightened to the truth. He was now a Buddha. He had reached his goal.