MURYOKO
'Infinite Light'
Journal of Shin Buddhism
Harold Stewart
The Non-retrogressive State
The first definitive Call-in-Command by Amida is the one and only true vocation, for on their call- in-response the defiled and doubtful feel his perfectly pure Faith transferred to their Hearts. At once they attain the Stage Beyond Relapse into the inferior realms of Samsara and their posthumous Rebirth in Jodo and final Enlightenment are definitely assured. They have reached what in Shinshu is technically termed the Non-retrogressive State, in which the recipient can become a channel for the Wisdom and Compassion of Amida; and this must occur through the spontaneous action of the Other Power, because any state gained by self-power would inevitably be defiled by the illusion of a self.