Before one Rosh Hashana, the Baal Shem Tov, who was to blow the shofar, instructed Rabbi Zev Kitzes, who was to call out the shofar notes, to learn the secret meanings of the shofar blasts. He did so, and even wrote them down on a slip of paper so that he can look at them at the appointed time.
When the time came, Rabbi Zev attempted to bring out the paper, which he thought was safely tucked into his kitel. To his utter dismay he could not find it, and in his confusion could not remember any of the special hidden meanings. Broken hearted and weaping, he called out the shofar blasts to the Baal Shem Tov without any special thoughts in mind.
After the shofar blowing had been completed, the Baal Shem Tov told Rabbi Zev the following: "In a king's palace there are hundreds of rooms, and on the door of each room there is a different lock that requires a special key to open it. But there is a master key which can open all the locks. That is a broken heart. When a person sincerely breaks his heart before Hashem his prayers can enter through all the gates and into all the rooms of the celestial palace of Hashem." (Or Yesharim)
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