Yuanfen (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles Yuan or Yuanfen is a Buddhist-related Chinese concept that means the predetermined principle that dictates a person's relationships and encounters, usually positive, such as the affinity among friends or lovers. In common usage the term can be defined as the "binding force" that links two persons together in any relationship. The concept of synchronicity from the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung can be seen as similar to yuanfen, which Chinese people also believe to be a universal force governing the happening of things to some people at some places. Yuanfen belongs to the family of concepts known in theology as determinism. Some believe that the driving forces and causes behind yuanfen are the actions done in the previous reincarnations. Therefore, it can be understood as the relational- as opposed to the physical- aspect of karma in Buddhism. However, while karma often refers to the consequences of an individual's actions on him- or herself, yuan is always used in conjunction with two persons.