At least he didn't awaken by doing the kind of meditation that's focused on objects of [[Awareness]] or on attaining some higher states of mind. The Buddha awakened because he sincerely surrendered to the truth of his experience. He surrendered to what is without resisting what is: [[Surrender is crucial for awakening]]. And he did so because he was sincere about understanding the truth, even if the truth wasn't comfortable: [[True spiritual practice is sincere investigation of our experience]].