After a breakup or divorce
The canon has no chapter on divorce, but it is plain about separation from what is dear: it names the loss of everyone and everything we love as something no one escapes, and it tells a grieving grandmother that a hundred loved ones mean a hundred griefs. Nothing in that asks you to feel less. The suttas also know the other half of an ending — the wanting that keeps checking, the story rerun at night — and one short set of verses advises against running after a past that has already gone. What they cannot do is say whether the relationship should have ended, or how to divide a life. If there are children, custody, or safety questions, those belong with people who can act.
What the suttas say
“Those who have a hundred loved ones, Visākhā, have a hundred sufferings. Those who have ninety loved ones, or eighty, seventy, sixty, fifty, forty, thirty, twenty, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, or one loved one have one suffering. Those who have no loved ones have no suffering. They are free of sorrow, stains, and anguish I say.”
Visākhā's grandchild — the Buddha's plain acknowledgement that love and grief come together.
Where this stops: Not a counsel to love less; a description of the terms on which we love.
Ud 8.8:5.1–5.20 · With Visākhā
“Yesaṁ kho, visākhe, sataṁ piyāni, sataṁ tesaṁ dukkhāni; yesaṁ navuti piyāni, navuti tesaṁ dukkhāni; yesaṁ asīti piyāni, asīti tesaṁ dukkhāni; yesaṁ sattati piyāni, sattati tesaṁ dukkhāni; yesaṁ saṭṭhi piyāni, saṭṭhi tesaṁ dukkhāni; yesaṁ paññāsaṁ piyāni, paññāsaṁ tesaṁ dukkhāni; yesaṁ cattārīsaṁ piyāni, cattārīsaṁ tesaṁ dukkhāni, yesaṁ tiṁsaṁ piyāni, tiṁsaṁ tesaṁ dukkhāni; yesaṁ vīsati piyāni, vīsati tesaṁ dukkhāni, yesaṁ dasa piyāni, dasa tesaṁ dukkhāni; yesaṁ nava piyāni, nava tesaṁ dukkhāni; yesaṁ aṭṭha piyāni, aṭṭha tesaṁ dukkhāni; yesaṁ satta piyāni, satta tesaṁ dukkhāni; yesaṁ cha piyāni, cha tesaṁ dukkhāni; yesaṁ pañca piyāni, pañca tesaṁ dukkhāni; yesaṁ cattāri piyāni, cattāri tesaṁ dukkhāni; yesaṁ tīṇi piyāni, tīṇi tesaṁ dukkhāni; yesaṁ dve piyāni, dve tesaṁ dukkhāni; yesaṁ ekaṁ piyaṁ, ekaṁ tesaṁ dukkhaṁ; yesaṁ natthi piyaṁ, natthi tesaṁ dukkhaṁ, asokā te virajā anupāyāsāti vadāmī”ti.
Don’t run back to the past, don’t anticipate the future. What’s past is left behind, the future has not arrived; and any present phenomenon you clearly discern in every case. The unfaltering, the unshakable: having known that, foster it.
The Bhaddekaratta verses — letting go of the chase after what is gone and what has not yet come, in favour of what is here.
Where this stops: The verses go on to urge effort today, since no one knows whether death comes tomorrow; they are about where attention goes, not a dismissal of planning or of a past that still needs repair.
MN 131:3.1–3.8 · One Fine Night
Atītaṁ nānvāgameyya, nappaṭikaṅkhe anāgataṁ; Yadatītaṁ pahīnaṁ taṁ, appattañca anāgataṁ. Paccuppannañca yo dhammaṁ, Tattha tattha vipassati; Asaṁhīraṁ asaṅkuppaṁ, Taṁ vidvā manubrūhaye.
Ānanda, did I not prepare for this when I explained that we must be parted and separated from all we hold dear and beloved? How could it possibly be so that what is born, created, conditioned, and liable to wear out should not wear out? That is not possible.
Ānanda's grief at Sāriputta's death, and the Buddha's answer.
Where this stops: Never offered to hurry grief, and never use its point about impermanence to tell someone their loss should hurt less.
SN 47.13:6.1–6.4 · With Cunda
Nanu taṁ, ānanda, mayā paṭikacceva akkhātaṁ: ‘sabbehi piyehi manāpehi nānābhāvo vinābhāvo aññathābhāvo. Taṁ kutettha, ānanda, labbhā. Yaṁ taṁ jātaṁ bhūtaṁ saṅkhataṁ palokadhammaṁ, taṁ vata mā palujjīti— netaṁ ṭhānaṁ vijjati.
When a man lives heedlessly, craving grows in them like a camel’s foot creeper. They jump from one thing to the next, like a langur greedy for fruit in a forest grove. Whoever is beaten by this wretched craving, this attachment to the world, their sorrow grows, like grass in the rain. But whoever prevails over this wretched craving, so hard to get over in the world, their sorrows fall from them, like a drop from a lotus-leaf.
Wanting that will not settle, in its most general form: a person who leaps about like a monkey after fruit, and the plain statement that sorrow falls away as craving is overcome.
Where this stops: About craving as a habit of mind, not about any particular wish; it is not a verdict on someone who wants a better job, a fair share or a child's welfare. Where a habit has become a dependency, it is for a doctor or a program first.
Dhp 334:1–336:4 · 24. Craving
Manujassa pamattacārino, Taṇhā vaḍḍhati māluvā viya; So plavatī hurā huraṁ, Phalamicchaṁva vanasmi vānaro. Yaṁ esā sahate jammī, taṇhā loke visattikā; Sokā tassa pavaḍḍhanti, abhivaṭṭhaṁva bīraṇaṁ. Yo cetaṁ sahate jammiṁ, taṇhaṁ loke duraccayaṁ; Sokā tamhā papatanti, udabinduva pokkharā.
Mendicants, there are five things that cannot be had by any ascetic or brahmin or god or Māra or divinity or by anyone in the world. What five? That someone liable to old age should not grow old. That someone liable to sickness should not get sick. … That someone liable to death should not die. … That someone liable to ending should not end. … That someone liable to perishing should not perish. …
That what ages might escape aging — the impossibility named without softening.
Where this stops: Never offered to hurry grief or to tell someone they should stop grieving.
AN 5.48:1.1–1.4 · Things That Cannot Be Had
Pañcimāni, bhikkhave, alabbhanīyāni ṭhānāni samaṇena vā brāhmaṇena vā devena vā mārena vā brahmunā vā kenaci vā lokasmiṁ. Katamāni pañca? ‘Jarādhammaṁ mā jīrī’ti alabbhanīyaṁ ṭhānaṁ samaṇena vā brāhmaṇena vā devena vā mārena vā brahmunā vā kenaci vā lokasmiṁ. ‘Byādhidhammaṁ mā byādhīyī’ti …pe… ‘maraṇadhammaṁ mā mīyī’ti … ‘khayadhammaṁ mā khīyī’ti … ‘nassanadhammaṁ mā nassī’ti alabbhanīyaṁ ṭhānaṁ samaṇena vā brāhmaṇena vā devena vā mārena vā brahmunā vā kenaci vā lokasmiṁ.