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In a quiet exquisite chamber, nestled away in the heart of the city, lay Antai, a once powerful and wealthy man, now feeble and gasping for breath on his deathbed. His sunken eyes stare blankly at the ceiling as if seeking answers from the universe that had once seemed to bow to his every whim. Beside him stands his long-time friend, Fada. Fada is a man equally wealthy exuding a sense of tranquillity that contrasts starkly with the air of desperation that clings to Antai.

“Fada,” Antai’s voice rasped, “I never thought I would see the day when I would be counting my breaths instead of my riches.”

Fada’s expression is compassionate as he replies, “Antai, my friend, I am here by your side to comfort you.  At this moment of your life, you do not have the strength to count your riches.”

Antai chuckles weakly. “You know, I’ve always believed that wealth was the key to happiness. I thought wealth could make a mortal man like me immortal. But look at me now – a bony, dying man with a lifetime of regrets.”

Tears stream down Antai’s face, dropping on the pillow and creating a wet patch on it.

Fada takes a seat beside the bed and looks into Antai’s teary eyes. “You made a mistake, my friend.”

Antai weakly turns his face to Fada and whispers, “What mistake?”

“You got lost in the sea of wealth and pleasure,” Fada responded.

Antai turns his face away with a silent hiss. “There’s no difference between you and me.”

“There is a big difference,” Fada challenged, “and I will tell you about it.” “Antai, I found God through years of fraternising with the truth. Yes, I was making money,  I chased it with the same intensity as you did, but I was also a student of the mysteries of life and existence. Wealth could not satisfy; I had to follow the yearning in my heart. While my investments yielded their returns, I was down in the chamber of my subconscious rummaging my soul for the answers I left buried there with the loads of worldly concerns. Then I found a lamp, a light that was mine and mine alone. That light led me through the dark labyrinth of myself up onto the mountaintop of illumination. There, I behold the face of God, luminous, loving, welcoming, and assuring. Everything I had lost its significance. They were nothing compared to the life I realised I have in the Eternity of God. Then, I realised also that the riches we accumulate in this world are temporary, but the treasures we gather in the reality of God are eternal.”

Antai’s brow furrows. “You speak of finding God, but I’ve spent a lifetime searching for God, and all I found was the darkness closing in around me, cold piercing darkness.” Antai coughs and then calms.

Fada’s voice is steady. “Antai, God cannot be found in the pursuit of material wealth alone. When you turn your gaze inward and seek the truth within your heart, you will truly find God.”

Antai lets out a bitter laugh. “So, you have found God, and you are going to heaven? Well, Fada, you might as well prepare for my company, because if what they say is true, no rich man can enter the kingdom of God. My friend, we will be in hell together.”

Fada leans in, his eyes holding a gentle intensity. “Antai, it is not about being rich or poor. It is about the state of your heart. Through my life experience, I have come to understand that the kingdom of God is a state of being. It is a transcendence of the human mind into the sublime reaches of the heart of God where souls unite with the truth and power of God and can apply the strengths derived there to the betterment and success of their lives.”

Antai’s frail hand grips the edge of the bed. “What do you mean?”

Fada continues, “The kingdom of God is a place within you; a place where you as a soul unite with the truth and power of God. The kingdom of God is life – a lifestyle. It is about applying the light, wisdom, and knowledge of principles derived from that unity to lead a genuine and successful life, not just in terms of material wealth, but in terms of spiritual richness. Your union with the truth make you realise that your wealth is not for you alone but for those who come to you. And, lastly, this life of the kingdom is your preparation to live and experience beingness in the Eternal Now of God after you cast off this flesh of yours.”

Tears well up in Antai’s eyes as a painful realisation dawns on him. “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier? Why did you let me waste my life chasing after hollow desires?” Antai questions, his eyes full of regret.

Fada’s gaze is remorseful. “I tried, Antai. But there came a point when you became trapped by the Cult of Mammon, where the pursuit of money took precedence over everything else.”

Antai’s voice trembled, “The Cult of Mammon?”

Fada nodded. “Yes, the culture that enslaves people to the pursuit of wealth at any cost, where their minds become fixated on money and nothing else. It was during that time that I began to withdraw from you, hoping that someday you would realise the emptiness of that path.”

Antai, with shock in his eyes, retorts, “I was never in any Cult of Mammon!”

“The Cult of Mammon is the spiritual net within which people who chase materialism at the expense of their souls get ensnared. There, the god Mammon dangles wealth and luxury before them and leads them insatiably towards more wealth until that light that makes them truly alive to themselves goes out and they find themselves at last on a deathbed, regretting their lives, and waiting to die.”

Antai’s breathing grows shallow, his face etched with regret. “I wasted my life.  I now understand what Christ meant when he said it is easier for a camel to pass through the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. I am that rich man.  Oh, pity me!”

Fada clasped Antai’s hand with sympathy. “Antai, Christ’s statement does not mean that all rich men are barred from the kingdom of God. It does mean that those who fixate solely on wealth, shutting out their spirituality, cannot realise God within them; it means they cannot transcend this illusion of life into the sublime realm of the Creator of all things. Those who strike a balance, those who seek the truth while enjoying a comfortable life, can indeed enter the kingdom.”

As Fada finished speaking, he noticed Antai’s gaze had turned vacant. His hand slipped from Fada’s grip, and his chest fell still.

“Antai?” Fada’s voice quivered as he touched his friend’s forehead, realising that Antai had departed from this world, his mouth gaping open as if to utter a final lament.

Fada closed Antai’s eyes gently, a silent prayer on his lips. The room envelopes in profound stillness as Fada’s thoughts wander through the conversation that had transpired. He believed, deep in his heart, that Antai had found his way to the truth in those final moments, transcending the barriers that had held him captive in mortal life. He believed that at the borderline between the physical and spiritual worlds, his friends might find the grace to make amends in another incarnation.