KiwiNFLFan wrote: ↑Tue May 18, 2021 3:59 am
Would the same be true in countries where you cannot file for divorce until you have been separated for a period of time defined by law (2 years in NZ)? If a marriage has irreparably broken down and the couple are separated, yet the law of the land won't permit them to divorce for 2 years, would it be ethical for one or both of the partners to date within the 2 years?
Everything we do harms someone, or something. To live we must eat, which means lives must be taken to sustain us. Most don't consider plants to be sentient beings, but that view is changing in light of loads of new evidence to the contrary.
In samsara at least, ones happiness comes at the expense of anthers suffering. It is unavoidable. To walk to the mailbox to get your mail, beings die. To have something good to eat, not only does something die, but someone, or something else is deprived of that food. Obtaining a new toy, item, or luxury, deprives something else of life, liberty, or material good.
For the vast majority of people, engaging in an intimate relationship with someone is likely making someone else miserable. Some onlooker, someone with an interest in one of the people, etc.
The only real solution I see is to try to limit the suffering caused, while keeping in mind your own. Some balancing act that neither takes too much, or deprives yourself too much.
Excessive worry over some matters likely is causing more suffering than is needed.