joy　歓喜 In Mahayana Buddhism, the first of the ten stages of bodhisattvahood is called the stage of joy. When, having performed practices, bodhi­sattvas have attained this first stage, they touch for the first time that which is timeless (dharma-body), and therefore experiences a joy that they have not known in the world of samsaric transmigration. This stage of joy is also the stage of nonretrogression.
　For Shinran as well, joy is experienced by practicers who have attained the stage of non­retrogression. He understands the passage on the fulfillment of the Eighteenth Vow to read: “Sentient beings, as they hear the Name, realize even one thought-moment (naishi ichinen) of shinjin and joy.” That is, when beings hear the Name, they realize shinjin, and joy wells up in them. When shinjin becomes settled in a person, he or she comes to dwell in the stage of nonretrogression; hence it is said that joy always accompanies shinjin that is Other Power.