Holy Hell: Guided Reflection

1)  For me, the scene that most greatly impacted me was when Michel and the entirety of Buddhafield were playing and prancing in the stream. From the outside, you see these beautiful people embracing each other in what looks like pure euphoria. I soon came to realize that these people were just vulnerable, and searching for meaning, and that their false guru was exploiting them for his own narcissistic needs. It made me wildly uncomfortable, because these people were absolutely blind to what was happening around them. The unfortunate victims of Buddhafield all seemed so surreal to me. They were at the peak of their happiness and physical ability, but were still just means to an end for Rachel.

2) What surprised me the most was just how much these people put themselves into Rachel and Buddhafield. These people were throwing away everything they had, owned, and had earned just for the validation and attention of Rachel. It was depressing, but understandable. The search for meaning has consumed an immeasurable amount of people, with Buddhafield being no exception.

3) The only question I had after the film was "What is Rachel doing now?". I took it upon myself to further research Buddhafield, and I discovered that Rachel and the current disciples of Buddhafield are somewhere in Hawai'i, with Rachel now referring to himself as a "God-King", and is still being treated as such. The only lasting feeling I had after the film was disgust, knowing that there are people like that coercing vulnerable people into a life of servitude and obsession.

4) We may avoid research in summaries as it may make the piece more analytical, which is not our main goal with this assignment. It also extends over the reach of our documentary, going farther than what we needed to know to summarize our film.