A Meditation Group and Later Abuse Allegations

Buddhafield is a spiritual community that formed around a teacher born Jaime Gomez, who used names including Michel and, later, Andreas. Its practice blended meditation, yoga, and personal-development techniques with a devoted communal life centered on the teacher, and the group relocated over the years between California, Texas, and Hawaii. Buddhafield became publicly known largely through a 2016 documentary made by a former long-term member, which presented the accounts of the film-maker and other former followers.

In those accounts, and in subsequent reporting, former members described a high degree of devotion to the leader and alleged psychological control and sexual abuse by him, allegations he has denied and which have been aired chiefly through media and personal testimony rather than adjudicated in a criminal court. The group is frequently cited in discussion of how communities organized around a single charismatic teacher can foster intense dependence, and of the particular difficulty of assessing such claims when they emerge years afterward through former members. A reduced community reportedly continued under the leader in Hawaii. As with any living group and disputed allegations, the distinction between former-member testimony and legally established fact is important to keep in view.