stage of nonretrogression　阿毘跋致,阿惟越致;不退転 Skt. avinivartanīya or avaivartika, lit., “not falling back”. An important stage in the bodhisattva path. One who has reached this stage will attain enlightenment without falling back to the lower stages of bodhisattvas or into the states of sravakas or pratyekabuddhas. In Jodo Shinshu, persons endowed with the entrusting heart abide in the stage of nonretrogression in the sense that, having been “grasped by Amida, never to be abandoned”, they will unfailingly be born in the Pure Land.. See stage of the truly settled and stage of succession to Buddhahood after one lifetime.