Fairy Tales # 21: The Golden Key and the Sardines

A man named Max lived in a house made of books. The walls, the floor and the table were all made of books, and all of them were called “How to Become Stronger.” There was no time to read them, because first he had to become stronger, and only then could he read.

One morning Max noticed that the roof of his house had touched a cloud. There was nowhere higher to go, and he decided to visit the Teacher.

The Teacher lived on a mountain and drank tea from an empty cup.

– Hello, – said Max. – I need a bigger ego. So that the world is afraid of me, money comes to me, and people obey me. It would also be nice to become famous, but that can wait.

The Teacher looked at him for a long time. Then he took a key out of his pocket. The key was huge and golden, with teeth like mountains, and heavier than the pocket itself.

– This key opens a gate, – said the Teacher. – Behind the gate is everything you have not yet understood, and everyone you can help.

– Excellent, – said Max. – Does it make the ego bigger?

– No.

– And money?

– No.

– Then I’ll take it for a trial, – said Max, and went down the mountain.

On the way he got hungry. He had a can of sardines but no can opener. Max thought for a moment and opened the can with the golden key. It worked perfectly. The edges came out smooth, and the sardines were delicious.

Then he scratched his back with the key. Then he propped a door open with it. Then he hung a towel on it. The key was very convenient, and Max wondered how he had lived without it before.

A year later Max became famous. People called him the man who opens cans with the most beautiful key in the world. They came to him, put their cans in a line, and paid money. His ego grew so large that he could enter his house only sideways. The world respected him, and some were even afraid of him, especially the sardines.

And on the mountain the gate was still standing. It was tall, up to the sky, and nobody went through it. The Teacher walked beside it and looked at the lock.

– I feel a little sad, – he said.

– Me too, – answered the lock. – Nobody has opened me for a long time.

That’s all. Or not all, but the gate is still closed for now, and the key, as everyone knows, lies in an empty sardine can.

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The subtext. The Tibetan tradition of mind training (lojong) says that all the teachings agree on one point: loosening our grasping at “I.” Another of its sayings warns: do not turn gods into demons, that is, do not use spiritual practice to inflate the ego. Chögyam Trungpa called this spiritual materialism: practice becomes one more way to strengthen oneself. The golden key opens the gate of liberation, for ourselves and for others. Max used it as a can opener. A useful thing, but the gate stayed closed.