You are here to discover your greatness

There are two types of prisons, external and internal. The latter blocks access to an infinite well of tranquility. This is what Sarkhan, life coach, creator of the project The Roar of Awakening points out

Interview by Aurelio Álvarez Cortez from the magazine Yourself.

Interview:

He was at the high school level and some classmates had stayed at his house in Cuernavaca, with whom he had spent the day before. After breakfast, their father would drive them to school. At that time, very early, his grandfather started to open the garage door to get the vehicle out. Eugenio climbed in front, next to his father. Suddenly, a person entered the home, grabbed Grandpa by the neck and put a gun to his head.

At the age of fifteen, he felt a revolution of emotions from that moment. With the first man, others entered, and it was clear what was happening. In his head the boy hears "Run! Run! Hide!" Some shots in the car followed one another as he sped away from the place, crouching down, into a room inside his home, trying not to be seen. Then there was a screeching of tires and it was all over. There was a tense energy in the air.

The arrival of the police and a friend confirmed that this violent episode was over. Shivering, pale, he headed to the front of the house. There he saw the gardener, lying on the ground, dead. It was a lying body, "empty."

A few meters away his father was, face down, near some stairs. He was still alive, he was breathing. He turned it over, putting his head in his arms. The face reflected panic, terror. Suddenly he took a breath, which the young man understood as a sign of calm. They looked directly into each other's eyes. His father seemed to say "you're fine, nothing happened to you, I'm calm." But breathing became impossible. The bullets had pierced the lungs, the blood flooded the thorax. The painful moment had come to say goodbye.

This fact was the touchstone for the one who would eventually become Sarkhan. Consultant and life coach, he was trained as an executive coach by IMPEL Mexico and ICC International. He studied international business at the University of the Americas, Puebla and foreign trade at the Intercontinental University of Morelos.

He was one of the leading participants in the documentary “A mindful choice”, which shows how different people, from different fields, have been able to re-signify traumatic experiences to end up channeling them towards creative projects that bring happiness.
He has given talks at drug addiction centers, alcoholics anonymous, associations focused on women and family abuse, as well as maximum security prisons and rehabilitation centers where he has donated numerous books written by him.

He is also the author of three published books: "Ego, the prisionguard of the Self. Find your Freedom Again", "A Discourse for the Soul" and "Manual for the Soul". Creator of the project El Roar of Awakening or Wake up to Roar.

- After losing your father like that, tragically, what was the exit you took?

- At the moment when my father was dying, I began to experience, through his eyes, a level of love, perfection, destiny, compassion, greatness, which marked the rest of my life. That experience was very strong, as if it were connected to the Whole. A level of emptiness, of connection, of love, of wisdom, that I could not understand how something so great could happen when the person I love the most was dying in my arms. That was tattooed, it permeated every cell of my body. But at the same time, a very beautiful reality that he had lived in until a second before had been completely destroyed.

Then a hostile world arose, of fear, of revenge, of another type of feelings much deeper, existential, that I ignored and that aroused in me. I began to question everything, which brought a very strong emotional conflict.

I got into drugs, alcohol, underground social circles, trying to understand the world, life, but with the strength to move on. That inner energy was what made me go through different experiences, as a signal to really discover what I came to do here, why what happened happened, what it was about. And I had to find answers.

- What did you find in that search?

- I have always been curious to find the whys in life and my father intensified that inquiry more intensely and consciously. I began to read books, where I found various teachings in Buddhism, philosophical currents, doctrines, ancient wisdoms ... As I used drugs, I became interested in knowing the spiritual world of Mexican culture, where shamans stand out. With them I tried to understand the spiritual aspect of drugs, I had a clear glimpse of where I was going and the discovery of why what was happening began. The first meeting was with a shaman from the lineage of María Sabina, a very powerful spiritual guide and with whom I shared some rituals.

- Was there a word or phrase that opened a door for you?

- Yes, he told me “you are here for something great and everything that happened has a reason”. Until that moment, I had a sense, but she had to tell me that I came here to find me, and also the reason for my existence.

- When was the name Sarkhan born?

- Some time later, I went through a strong experience of dis-identification with the name and Sarkhan, which means The Union of Opposites, emerged. For me the most important thing was to get out of the internal hell in which I lived: I had become unconscious, I was lost, I denied everything that was happening inside me through drugs, alcohol, travel, I no longer knew who I was. Doubts, impotence, rebellion, anger, rage with life, with everyone, with God, the universe ... I did not trust anyone. Anti-kidnapping police and officials had been the ones who had tried to kidnap me and murdered my father. There was also a big lawsuit at the family level and with friends. These events profoundly marked my life.

Step by step, I was healing, understanding, self-inquiry, discovering my internal reality, and I realized beliefs that, after all, were like poison. Thus I began another path of introspection and transcendence.

- Can you offer more details about the monks and shamans you were with? Who are they?

- I spent time with shamans in Mexico, exploring and investigating their customs and rituals. Then I was with various teachings of monks, many of them were dedicated to discovering what is beyond thought. They spend a lot of time introspection, meditation. Personally, and as a monk, I have been locked up for many years dedicating myself, as a primary task, to the commitment with oneself to heal what needs to heal, to become a better person, to transform as an individual, awakening to a reality more beautiful than that which thought offers, and from there help others, humanity.

- What was the next phase of your transformation?

- Then everything started to make sense. All experiences led to a purpose, very obvious. Opportunities were presented to teach drug addicts in prisons. In Mexico there are maximum security prisons, with people with very powerful stories. With that opening of doors, the desire to help people like those who caused my old suffering is fulfilled. I understood why they had done it, what motivated them. I was at peace with them because I realized that they came from a place of too great suffering. That is why I wanted to help them heal, so that their life would change. In me there was no rancor or desire for revenge. Nothing.

Now I had the ability to connect with those types of people, talk to them about you, from another perspective, about the victim, about someone who has experienced something through their actions. I have seen a very beautiful change in them because I was giving them help from a deeper level, from someone with a direct experience, with love and will.