In the 2000 Rolling Stone interview, Carlos Santana recalled the strict rules: “Cut your hair, no drugs, total vegetarian. It was like a West Point approach to spirituality. Five o’clock in the morning meditating, every day.”
Santana’s wife Deborah noted that Chinmoy was interested in long-distance running and how this became a way for followers to compete against one another: “There was always this competition in how much we could do to prove our devotion — who could sleep the least and still function, because you were working so hard, how many miles could you run. I once ran a 47-mile race. It wasn’t enough just to run a marathon.”
Eventually, Carlos and Deborah realized that the bizarre and abusive treatment Sri Chinmoy meted out to his followers outweighed any spiritual benefits and left the group in 1981. The final straw was overhearing Chinmoy insulting tennis player Billie Jean King because she was in a romantic relationship with a woman. “This guy’s supposed to be spiritual after all these years; mind your own spiritual business and leave her alone,” said Santana.
