Recalling the Tofu Debts of Many Years Past

多年豆腐帐可追

In the past, there was an old cultivator who, after his enlightenment, wanted to find out who he really was in the past. What kind of person was he in the past? I bet none of you know. He was a tofu seller. In the past, he came to a Chan hall while selling tofu and happily sat in meditation like the others in the hall. While sitting, he was able to recall all his tofu debts.

以前有一个老修行开悟后，就前观后观，要看一看自己是谁。哦！原来以前他是个什么人呢？你们谁也猜不着，他是个卖豆腐的。他卖豆腐来到禅堂，随喜坐一下，把多年的豆腐帐都想起来了，就说了一首偈颂：「难怪禅堂各找谁，万劫欠债岁复岁；我今只坐半小时，多年豆腐账可追。」说的虽然不妙，但也不太粗；一个卖豆腐的人会说偈颂，这不是开悟了，怎么会说呢？

He composed a verse, which goes like this:

No wonder everyone in the Chan hall is looking for the “who?”

The debts of ten thousand eons have accumulated over the years.I sit for only half an hour,And my many years of tofu debts can be traced.

This verse, though not profound, is not too bad either. If this tofu seller were not enlightened, how could he come up with such a verse?

He said, “How wonderful it is to investigate Chan! As a tofu seller, I came to the Chan hall to sell tofu. While waiting for the monk to get money from the storeroom, I looked and thought, ‘What are these people doing here?’ They were all saying “Who? Who? Who?” Seeing this, the tofu seller sat down and start to look for that “Who – Who still owes me money for the tofu I sold them? Five or six years ago, Wang Ma Zi purchased ten pieces of tofu and has not paid for it. Four or five years ago, Mr. Li purchased five pieces of tofu and also has not paid for it. Investigating Chan is really good. If I did not sit here and search for that ‘who,’ how could I have possibly recalled all these tofu debts? This is truly inconceivable.”

他说，参禅真是妙！我是个卖豆腐的，到一个禅堂里卖豆腐。和尚到库房去拿钱，我就在禅堂里等着。我看这些人都在干什么？这些和尚都说：「谁？谁？谁──？」他一看，他也坐着想了：「谁──？谁欠我豆腐账？五、六年以前，王麻子买了我十块豆腐，没有给我钱；四、五年以前，李瘸子他买五块豆腐，也没有给钱。参禅真是好，我如果不是在这儿坐一坐，参禅找谁，这个豆腐账怎能想得起来呢？这真是妙不可言。」

Therefore the verse says: No wonder everyone in the Chan hall is looking for the “who?” No wonder everyone there is searching for the “who?” I have come to know this wonderful practice. The debts of ten thousand eons have accumulated over the years. Ten thousand eons have since passed, and one cannot recall who still owes money. Now they sit in the Chan hall to “Namo” themselves (to ask themselves): “Who is it? Who still owes me money? Who owes me?” They were all looking for their creditors. “And I now sit for only half an hour, and I manage to recall my many years’ of tofu debts.” The tofu seller did not just stop there after saying the verse, he investigated Chan everyday thereafter and recalled all his tofu debts. He also investigated, “Who owes me tofu debts from the last life and the life before that.” He planted vajra seeds. As a result of those vajra seeds, he came to the Chan hall, not to trace his tofu debts, but to investigate Chan. This time the conditions had ripened and he managed to awaken: “Oh! My original self is like this.”

所以偈颂说：「难怪禅堂各找谁」，真难怪他们在这儿各找谁──谁──？我到现在才知道这个妙诀；「万劫欠债岁复岁」，一年又一年，到万劫那么久，也想不起来是谁欠他们的债？现在他们坐在禅堂里，南无自己(自己问自己)：「哎！是谁？谁欠我钱呢？有谁欠我东西没还？」他们都在找欠自己债的人；「我今只坐半小时，多年豆腐账可追。」这个卖豆腐的不是说了一首偈颂就算数，以后他天天去参禅；参得没有豆腐账了，他又参：「前生谁欠我豆腐账？再前生又有谁欠我豆腐账？」参得种下了一个金刚种子。因为有这个种子，所以今生他又到禅堂；不是追豆腐账，是去参禅。他这次机缘成熟，参得豁然大悟：「哦！原来我是这么一回事。」

So what about your original self? If you open the five eyes, you can take a look. Who is my mother? Who is my father? Who are my close relatives? How come I have ended up here—sitting and walking, walking or sitting. “Oh! This was my father in the past, that was my mother in the past, that was my elder brother in the past and that was my younger brother in the past.” You can understand all of the debts of these causes and effects from past lives. If you want to know the causes and effects and relationships you’ve had in life after life from beginningless eons in the past to the present, you should work hard at your cultivation. Once you become awakened, you will know, “Oh! In the past I made vows to assist my Teacher to propagate Buddhism in the United States.”

你们各位究竟是怎么一回事？你若开了五眼，也可以看一看、找一找：谁是我的妈妈？谁是我的爸爸？谁是我的至亲骨肉？我们现在怎么搞得跑到这儿，在一起坐坐又跑跑，跑跑又坐坐？「哦！原来这个是我以前的爸爸，那个是我以前的妈妈，那是我以前的哥哥，那是我以前的弟弟……。」这些宿世的因果账都会明白。你们想知道无量劫到现在，生生世世因果循环的关系，就要好好用功；开悟了，就知道：「哦！我原来发愿要帮着师父到美国弘扬佛法的，原来如此哎！」