no sooner does one choose and act according to a particular course of action than are the results thereof (heavens, hells, or otherwise) realized in it .... Man lives in the midst of causation from which he cannot escape even for a moment; nevertheless, he can live from moment to moment in such a way

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that these moments are the fulfilled moments of moral and spiritual freedom and purity in thusness. [7]

This analysis enables us to make sense of the third question-and-answer exchange between Ejō and Dōgen. Ejō asks: "If this is so [i.e., if cause and effect emerge at the same time], does cause prompt the next effect, or does effect bring about the next cause?" Dōgen replies: "If everything were like that, it would be like Nan-ch'üan cutting the cat," a reference to the kōan from the Mumonkan cited above. Ejō's question reveals that he has not understood Dōgen's previous answer, and is still bound by the notion of continuous cause and effect. Dōgen's reply is that if cause and effect were like Ejō's conception (and not understood as "discontinuous moments of cause and effect grounded in thusness"), then human beings would be paralyzed by causation, unable to engage in "fulfilled moments of moral and spiritual freedom and purity," just as Nan-ch'üan's disciples were paralyzed by the Master's challenge, "unable to say anything." This contrasts with the "excellent performance" of Chao-chou, a response drawing praise from both Nan-ch'üan and Dōgen.

　　 How does Dōgen understand Chao-chou's response to Nan-ch'üan? This is best approached by introducing Dōgen's notion of hishiryō ("without thinking"). The "Zazenshin" chapter of the Shōbōgenzō begins:

The Great Teacher Yüeh-shan Kung-tao was practicing zazen when a certain monk said, "What do you think of, doing zazen?" Yüeh-shan said, "I think about not-thinking [about anything]." When he then said, "How is this done?" Yüeh-shan replied, "By hishiryō (without thinking)." Realizing this answer, we must study and correctly transmit zazen. This is the practice of zazen which has been transmitted in the Way. Though there are some other talks about thinking in zazen, yet this talk is one of them. [8]

　　 Within this passage we find three kinds of mental activities: thinking, not-thinking, and without-thinking. What is meant by the first two terms are processes familiar to all of us. We can certainly think about a cat -- analyze it, worry over it, decide whether or not to kill it, and so forth. We can also not think about the cat or, for that matter, anything at all; that is, we can stop the thinking process altogether. Beyond the dichotomy of thinking and not-thinking, however, can be found without-thinking.

　　 Actually, it would be more accurate to describe without-thinking as before thinking and not-thinking. Some philosophers have written at considerable length to articulate and defend this concept, [9] but for our purposes a thumbnail sketch will suffice. Without-thinking encapsulates what is meant by the prereflective experiences of life. We might, for example, suddenly find ourselves looking at a cat. In this initial moment of without-thinking, there is only the experience-of-looking-at-the-cat.

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Only subsequent to this moment does the mental act of thinking set in, wherein there emerges the sense of a subject (oneself, or one's self) looking at an object (a cat). Thus without-thinking is a mental process prior to this emergence of self and other in everyday life.

　　 Mundane as this without-thinking may appear, in fact it is central to both Dōgen's moral theory and the theme of moral causation articulated in the Nan-ch'üan passage. From without-thinking, we see things "as they really are" (genjōkōan). "Genjōkōan" is the title of the first chapter of the Shōbōgenzō, and its foremost position in the text is indicative of the importance of this concept in Dōgen's thought. The word is a conjunction of genjō ("presence itself") and kōan. Interpretations of this concept differ; my own accords with the view that Dōgen viewed genjō itself to be a kōan. [10] In one sense, then, genjōkōan can be understood as the name of a kōan which, when correctly grasped, indicates "things as they really are." "Correctly grasping" this kōan proceeds from the pre-reflective experience manifested by without-thinking.

　　 A famous passage from the "Genjōkōan" states:

To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things. [11]

"Being enlightened by all things" expresses the mental activity of without-thinking wherein the "self" (and also "other") is "forgotten," because awareness of such distinctions is not present. No separate self is present to perceive "other" things. Rather, the self is all these things, and vice versa, in this moment. From without-thinking flows the only identifiable "reality," namely the unceasing, ever-changing, impermanent unfolding of experience. From without-thinking/enlightenment, therefore, we see things as they really are (genjōkōan).