Awakening the third eye

Tall, blue-eyed, and athletic, Helma Schipper is hardly anyone’s idea of a guru. But she is a meditation teacher, a regression (ISIS) practitioner, and overseer for the activities of the Clairvision School in the Philippines. The Clairvision School, which is based in Sydney, deals with the western tradition of esoteric knowledge.

And today, wearing an aqua halter top and loose green pants, she sits below a glittering Indian print, facing yet another group hungry for spiritual guidance. She smiles, eyes shining, aura flashing, and 14 participants in her Awakening the Third Eye workshop smile back. Helma gives a short introduction to the workshop, which covers, among others, a method for developing the third eye and a meditation based on activating the body of energy, awareness, and vision.

Inner Space

The third eye is not physical. It is mostly etheric (a layer of life force equivalent to the qi of traditional Chinese medicine) and astral (mental and emotional consciousness). It is like a tunnel from the occipital bone at the back of the head to the area between the eyebrows. It is the primary organ through which the energy body can be awakened and governed. The third eye is the main gate that leads to inner space. In the words of Dr. Samuel Sagan, founder of the Clairvision School, "The third eye is the gate that opens to the space of consciousness and to the inner worlds. The purpose of awakening the third eye is to find the self and to learn to see the world from the self instead of seeing it from your usual mental consciousness."

So the third eye acts as a "switch" which can activate higher frequencies of the energy body and thereby lead to higher states of consciousness. Being the "main switch" of the etheric body, the third eye is closely connected to the pituitary and pineal glands of the physical body.

Once the third eye is activated, it triggers several circulations of energy. This results in healing some physical and emotional disorders. Dr. Sagan further says that awakening the third eye allows people to get in touch with their inner selves, which, in itself, has a major healing action. He adds that he wouldn’t be surprised if in the future, more and more "third eye therapies" were developed.

Even the Bible mentions the third eye: "The light of the body is the eye: If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." (Matthew 6:22)

The third eye is considered a most precious jewel by those who seek spiritual wisdom. This is why statues of the Buddha are adorned with a precious gem on the forehead, between the eyebrows – the location of the third eye.

New Vision

For the next two days, Helma guides the participants through several meditation techniques meant to systematically awaken the third eye. Unlike other methods of meditation, the Clairvision way to open the third eye does not involve any creative visualization, imagination or concentration, but only awareness. Neither does it require you to withdraw from the world. It encourages you to do your daily activities with a different awareness and a new vision.

True to the Clairvision School’s approach, which emphasizes the superiority of experience over one’s mental concepts, and of firsthand knowledge over belief, Helma tells her students, "Do not believe all I say. Experiment. Play with the techniques."

After each spiritual exercise, she asks the participants to share their experiences, which are varied and interesting. A young woman experiences a healing process when she sobs out that her husband had died some four years ago, when she was pregnant with their son and she found it difficult to let go until now. Another participant sees bursts of colors in her third eye. Most feel peace and calmness. A broadcast executive feels her heart chakra open up and a flood of great compassion for humanity engulfs her, leaving her teary-eyed.

Helma says that the awakening of the third eye is instant, but the cultivation takes time.

"It’s like a new muscle in your body which you have not used before. It is exciting to use the muscle in your daily life. Use or lose it. It’s up to you to maintain or improve it by daily practice, which includes meditation and ISIS regression therapy, apart from other practices. Just be aware of the third eye in your daily activities. You have to find the standpoint of the third eye and from there, stop the blah-blah of the talking mind. Through shutting up the mind, you will find peace and stillness, and a great depth of feeling."

"People with an awakened third eye feel more, see more, and know more. They add a dimension to their life. They see beyond facades."

She says one can recognize a person with an awakened third eye through resonance, because "like knows like."

"People with an open third eye are more centered. They have a place to rest inside themselves – a place of peace and stillness. They do not depend on their environment to feel happy."

Ignorance Is Bliss

Asked what methods she uses to awaken the third eye, Helma replies, "Through resonance. Because my third eye is awakened, I can awaken other people’s third eye. Certain sounds or music help. If I do a private session with ISIS clients, I lead them through the meditation process and they start receiving something from the third eye. It’s basically the energy behind the Clairvision School that helps the spiritual beings."

Some people think that it is dangerous to open the third eye, but Helma assures them that she would never force anybody to undergo the opening of the third eye.

"In my case," she says, "it opened naturally. My third eye opened when I was 30 years old, and I did my first workshop when I was 33."

Many people dread the opening of their third eye because they don’t want to see negative astral entities, but Helma says that lower astral beings are always around, whether you see them or not.

"People who are scared of them think they are better off without seeing them. It’s like ignorance is bliss. But the fact that you don’t see them doesn’t mean that they are not there. It is better if you can perceive them so that you can decide whether to be where they are or to walk away from them. If you know that there is a lower entity there, it is the first step to a solution. You can find out what the being wants. In nature, there are beings everywhere. Negative energies only become negative when they start harming the environment. In nature, there is a balance of energy."

She says it is possible, through practice, to develop the third eye to higher levels. "I’ve done at least 15 Awakening of the Third Eye workshops, and everytime, I develop more of my third eye. It’s limitless. The third eye is a tunnel. It’s like a laser beam."

Spiritual Journey

The awakening of her third eye was unexpected. Ten years ago, she was at home, sick. "I was feeling really sick and I felt I had to go to the bathroom. When I reached the bathroom, I fell flat on my face, on my third eye, unconscious. It hurt. I left my body, despite the fact that I have not done any spiritual work. I was Catholic and I felt like I was in heaven because I felt so happy. I felt light, warm, and happy. I thought I was going to stay there, but I heard a voice that said, ‘There is still something you have to do. It isn’t your time yet.’ I was so disappointed. I did not want to go back. But I had to go back and it had to do with love. I heard someone call my name in a far, far distance. It was my husband. I did not want to go back and live with him. And slowly, I descended to my physical body."

Helma traces her spiritual journey: "I have a degree in Economics. I was an office manager in Amsterdam and another place not well-known. Last year, I visited the Philippines three times to help run Clairvision courses and this year, I came back at the end of January to actually live here for a while till September. I want to help people here set up a structure – a building where people can meet, study together, and train people to such a level that they can practice without a teacher. I want to empower the people. And since February, that’s what I’ve been doing. I’ve seen people change. A number of people are up to that level now. I want to train people who can take over."

Helma’s calendar of courses is full: July 9-10, Astrology Level 2; Sept. 3-4, Awakening of the Third Eye workshop; and Sept. 17-24, ISIS and Angelic Resonance – residential (live-in) workshop. She also holds private regression (ISIS sessions) for interested people. Call Tetchie at 656-2579 or text 0920-8519-717. You can also e-mail at tetchie_d@ yahoo.com or visit www.clairvision.org.

She ended up with Clairvision School in a rather roundabout way. One morning, in 1998, she woke up and felt she had to go to Thailand. On her second day in Thailand, she met a man from Sydney, Australia. Three months later, she decided to see him in Sydney. He said, "You have to meet my sister-in-law because she is like you."

When she met Helma, she said, "You have to meditate." Helma said, "I know, but I have not found the right technique yet." She said, "I studied at Clairvision School. I like Clairvision School because it is a school for modern people. The other spiritual traditions that I got involved with carried so much from the past. I enrolled in the Awakening of the Third Eye workshop. Samuel Sagan, founder of the Clairvision School, was my teacher. I did all the courses. I have been studying for seven years."

She tells of an experience in a monastery where only the men could address the women. The women could not talk to the men. "I found that too frustrating because I have something to say."

She certainly has something to say about life in the Philippines: "I found the level of chaos challenging. For example, the traffic, disorganization, always something happening at the last minute that was not planned. I have to be prepared to make rearrangements. I lived in Australia and Holland before, where things are planned. Now, in hindsight, I find that boring. I like improvising. I started to enjoy that. People here are so forgiving."

And can she already understand Tagalog?

Helma flashes an enigmatic smile and says, "Siguro …"<