Catholics, Methodists and those of other faiths take part in services at Maha Shiva Mandir in Long Beach.
Raised in the Catholic faith, Beth Fiteni now worships at a Hindu temple in Long Beach.
“It’s really something, isn’t it,” said Fiteni about the temple and the people who have worshiped there for many years. “Funny how it’s just normal to them, but to me it’s just extraordinary.”
Fiteni, an Oyster Bay resident, is among a handful of “outsider” worshipers who practice at Maha Shiva Mandir — Temple of Great Lord Shiva — located in an unassuming two-story home on Laurelton Boulevard. Most of the other temple-goers, a mix of lawyers, doctors, teachers, sales reps and the unemployed, are natives of Guyana, South America, who live in Long Beach or as far away as New Jersey. They practice Sanatan Bharma, which means “an eternal way of life.”
The temple is open to all comers, and Fiteni started to attend their special evening ceremonies about three years ago, and embraced their music, spirit and prayer.
“I’d like to go on Sunday mornings,” she said of the weekly temple service, “but it’s far from where I live and I’m a late riser.”
Fiteni’s friend Paul Joseph, an Oceanside resident, originally invited her to Maha Shiva Mandir, just as his friend, the late Steve Angel, a holistic practitioner in Long Beach, first introduced him to the temple some 20 years ago.
“What kept me coming back was the richness of the entire cultural experience, the music, message, sights, sounds and vegetarian meals,” said Joseph, a professional musician.
Joseph, too, was raised Catholic, and while he and Fiteni find the two religions have similarities, they find Hinduism and Buddhism, which they both study, share more in common. “The general style of worship, multiple deities and the basic message of how one should behave,” Fiteni said when asked to cite their parallels.
The typical two-hour Sunday service at the Hindu temple features a priest who sits lotus-style at the center of the living room-turned-sanctuary, surrounded by worshipers who listen to his sermon as they sit shoeless on white linen sheets. Against a wall stand statuettes of several gods that worshipers pray to throuh Shiva, a major god who represents peace and tranquility.
For Fiteni, the most touching part of the service comes near its conclusion, when the priest lights a small candle on a brass plate and waves it before a family member or loved one, and touches their feet as a sign of respect and humility. “[It’s] very lovely to see that,” she said.
Ruth Ann Mahr, a Franklin Square native and a Methodist, used to attend Sunday services at Maha Shiva Mandir for five years until she moved to Northport. She still tries as often as possible to drive to Long Beach once a month.
“The evening events are even more powerful and very uplifting,” Mahr said.
As she described it, the temple is not doctrinaire, but instead welcomes everyone from other religions and does not dictate a catechism. Mahr is a multi-faith minister of the Gathering of Light Church in Dix Hills, where worshipers find more similarities than differences among the various faiths. “We worship the God spirit and the prayers are similar,” she said.
When she can’t make the services in Long Beach, she practices Hinduism at home. “I meditate, pray and chant, light a candle, and focus on the music once a day and before I go to bed for 15 minutes,” she said.
* Joseph Kellard contributed to this story.
