The Royal Flush, a story comprising of two kings, a queen, three jacks, and an ace.

The world turned once long ago, or rather to say the wheel of the dharma turned once again, and just in time it was.

Well, only an ace beats a king, and this ace was very very wise. He was hiding, as wise beings do, and it was first the queen that found him.

The queen also got wisdom from the ace, thus her brother the king followed her, and they both danced with joy. The jack, being son of the king, needed little encouragement to join such a frolic, for he was more of a joker than a jack, truth be told.

Just so, did the ace bring great joy to the royals, and their subjects became a legend of contentment.

The other king ruled, far away, a lonely mountain land fraught with ghosts, goblins and wizards. His subjects lived in constant anguish and fear.

So, thought the other king, “If not the ace, perhaps some jacks would come to my mountain kingdom, bringing the wisdom of contentment for self and subjects together”.

And so they did, and that is the greatness of this story.

These are the players then in a great event, for unbeknownst to them an ill wind was about to come down, upon them, and all that they knew.

But first, let us start with the ace.

To be an ace, one must live perfectly, always, with no loose ends. This is so difficult that usually we need to use a symbol, though one could say, surely, that the Buddha was an ace. Prajñāpāramitā is also a wonderful symbol of perfection.

But what our ace taught the queen was something a little more ’in the world’. First off, they both agreed that life is a ’house of cards’, that can come down at any moment. That we also all know, for we are experts on living life.