Buddhafield (cult)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Buddhafield is a new religious movement in the United States. It began in the 1980s in
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
, and continues in
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
today, often recruiting through yoga studios. The group has been described as a
cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...
by some former members.


About

The leader of Buddhafield is a man previously known as Michel, Andreas, The Teacher, or Reyji, born Jaime Gomez. He was once known to wear nothing but
swim briefs A swim brief or racing brief is any briefs-style male swimsuit such as those worn in competitive swimming (sport), swimming, Diving (sport), diving and water polo. The popularity of the Australian ''Speedo'' brand racing brief has led to the u ...
and eyeliner. He is featured in the documentary film ''Holy Hell'' directed by Will Allen. He is also featured on the
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
series '' How to Become a Cult Leader'' (season 1 episode 3 entitled "Reform Their Minds").


Beliefs

Buddhafield largely espouses
New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...
ideas. Jaime Gomez thinks of himself as God, and encourages his followers to think of themselves as God as well. Buddhafield uses the Sanskrit word
shakti Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति, IAST: Śakti; 'energy, ability, strength, effort, power, might, capability') in Hinduism, is the "Universal Power" that underlies and sustains all existence. Conceived as feminine in essence, Shakti refer ...
(meaning "power") for Gomez's alleged power transference to his followers using his finger. Gomez also cites the
Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; ), often referred to as the Gita (), is a Hindu texts, Hindu scripture, dated to the second or first century BCE, which forms part of the Hindu epic, epic poem Mahabharata. The Gita is a synthesis of various strands of Ind ...
as a source. Gomez demanded his followers remain
celibate Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, the term ''celibacy'' is applied on ...
despite himself allegedly having sexual intercourse with various followers. Drugs and alcohol were also banned from use while in the group. Buddhafield followers change names while in the group. ''Holy Hell'' director Will Allen explained that "A lot of the principles of the East vs. West that we were doing—surrendering to the guru, dropping your ego, taking your shoes off before you walk into a room and leave the world behind—we didn't think of it as giving our power, we thought of it as empowering." Three to five hour ballet practices two to three days each week were often a part of the group's activities, with members even missing their jobs for practice. The resulting performance was never shown to anyone outside of Buddhafield.


Post-Waco changes

Gomez voiced his anxieties to his then-follower Will Allen after the
Waco siege The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the siege by US federal government and Texas state law enforcement officials of a compound belonging to the religious cult known as the Branch Davidians, between February 28 and April 19, 1993 ...
.''Holy Hell'', directed by Will Allen (2016). Allen pinpoints this as the moment when Gomez's paranoia began. Gomez left his followers for six months to find a new location for the group. Gomez also began to undergo increasing amounts of plastic surgery around this time, as well as recommending his female followers undergo similar procedures. Gomez also attempted to get followers to report on each others' perceived transgressions. He kept one follower from seeing her father before he died, and encouraged another to get an abortion, claiming religious reasons.


Allegations

Many allegations have been made against Jaime Gomez, most notably sexual abuse of his male followers. His victims have said that they had their confessions in their weekly
hypnotherapy Hypnotherapy, also known as hypnotic medicine, is the use of hypnosis in psychotherapy. Hypnotherapy is generally not considered to be based on scientific evidence, and is rarely recommended in clinical practice guidelines. However, several p ...
sessions used against them. Gomez also used the
AIDS crisis The global pandemic of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), by 2023, HIV/AIDS ...
to instill fear in his
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...
male followers to frighten them into staying. The group has been described as a cult by some former members. Former members such as Chris Johnston, Julian Goldstein, Radhia Gleis, and Alessandra Burenin claim they were
brainwashed Brainwashed may refer to: *Brainwashing, to affect a person's mind by using extreme mental pressure or other methods Film and television * ''Brainwashed'' (film), a 1960 German film * '' Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power'', a 2022 American documenta ...
by Jaime Gomez. Allen and other former Buddhafield members claim that they were not allowed to obtain information from outside sources, with Gomez bristling at one member purchasing a television. Gomez shunned such ex-followers and denied the allegations.


Reaction to film

Jaime Gomez has allegedly sent followers to ''Holy Hell''
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...
debut screenings to "physically threaten" ex-followers featured in the film. One of Gomez's bodyguards allegedly threatened a cast member after Sundance. Gomez's official statement is as follows:


References

{{Reflist Religious belief systems founded in the United States New Age organizations New religious movements established in the 1980s