The question arose by a friend asking which was worse. Was emotional involvement or having physical sex worse when it comes to cheating?
Emotions and hormones start the process. The act is the culmination of the thoughts being processed to the natural realm.
I taught my first son about the physical act, but I had to take a different tack with my younger son. I had to tell him that committing a physical act with another will tie their souls together. This is because it really does happen and that is why there is so much turmoil between a couple at some point if they find they are otherwise incompatible. Their souls have intertwined.
Cheating further complicates the matter when someone is in process of a relationship or married. The other significant other will likely “feel” something is wrong, yet not recognize it or will deny it because they don’t want to believe it. These instinctual feelings come from a troubled soul. Even if an act hasn’t occurred. So it starts in the soul. No act is required. The physical act itself is the culmination of all that transpired before it.
Livin' Small 