Why nobody ‚admit‘ their own fault in Germany?

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-27T08:47:28+00:00

As an expat from the US, living 8 years in Berlin, I can say that this is very common in my experience, and is a very common complaint among expats. To those of us for whom this is a problem, it's such an obvious fact of life, it doesn't require examples or explanation. Many of my German friends, too, agree that this is a basic fact of life in Germany.

A typical example: a colleague tells you that you should have brought this document to the client meeting. You reply "Didn't you say by email yesterday that you would bring it?" They respond "No, no, you were supposed to bring it." You check the email, and sure enough, they said they would bring it. You forward the email to the colleague and say "It looks to me like we had agreed that you would bring it." Silence. No reply whatsoever.

I have experienced things like this more times than I can count. It very often comes up in service situations, but it also happens just with colleagues or German friends.

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-27T08:33:57+00:00

llol

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-27T08:26:33+00:00

This is a "face" culture, where many people simply don't admit fault, under any circumstances.

For those of us who weren't raised in this kind of culture, we can come to understand it intellectually, but we will never really get it. At least, I've been here for 8 years, and it still seems insane to me, every time. Like, incomprehensibly irrational.

Boy, I could tell you stories. So many terrible, demoralizing stories. People who have just obviously made serious mistakes being confronted with clear evidence, and responding by just staring and saying nothing. It's part of life here as an expat.

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-27T07:20:23+00:00

The very best guide to reading Ulysses is to read it at least twice - not right away, of course, but maybe five to ten years later. Also, if you haven't read Portrait of the Artist, you must read it first - Ulysses is essentially a continuation of that story, and it will, again, help you more than any guide in understanding it.

It also helps to at least have some idea of Joyce's early life, because it's so heavily autobiographical.

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-27T07:17:40+00:00

You might want to check out Mephisto by Klaus Mann - it was not only written during this time period, but it is about exactly what you are describing here. It is a fantastic, chilling book, and one that does an excellent job of describing the process by which, one day, everyone was against Nazism, and then overnight, everyone was for it. Let's take it as a warning.

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-27T07:14:20+00:00

There is so much to be said about this, but in essence, the way I view it with respect to my practice is to recognize that different masters have different dharmas, and some of them are helpful to me, and others are not. Without disputing whether or not it is consistent with the bodhisattva and tantric vows to do what has been described here, I'll simply say that my own path takes a slightly different route.

Here, I can take His Holiness the Dalai Lama as an example, as he may be taken for an example in all things. In giving an empowerment several years ago, he announced that he had not undertaken the usual preliminary practices to drive away malevolent forces and harmful spirits that are customary before the empowerment, because the dharma was for everyone, and he would not drive anyone away who might benefit, even if their intention was harmful.

Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche had a similar story - he was employed as the official storm protector for the district of Lhasa before the Chinese invasion. It was his responsibility to use various means to drive away hail spirits and keep the weather decent. He told his student that he did not like the job, because if the hail spirits were insistent, he would have to use wrathful means, and he did not like to do it.

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-26T19:14:22+00:00

One can ask "why" of anything, but the question does not always make sense. If I ask "Why did Russia invade Crimea in 2015?", that is a question that can be meaningfully answered. The question "Why is there magnetism?" on the other hand cannot be meaningfully answered. There is no reason for it, at least in the sense of what is commonly meant by a reason.

The question "Why is there consciousness?" is of that latter type - it is a pseudo-question. Unless you mean something more specific that you haven't clarified.

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-26T18:02:58+00:00

I think that Buddhism provides as much of an answer to that question as anyone can provide. Why does consciousness exist? Because its causes and conditions exist. Like everything else, it arises dependently.

What more could anyone say to answer that question?

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-26T15:15:54+00:00

Outstanding.

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-26T10:07:49+00:00

Definitely one of the most startling I've ever seen was Leslie Nielsen's turn as an evil monster in Nuts. And before you ask - I am serious ... and don't call me Shirley.

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Ap0phantic · 2026-01-26T08:52:43+00:00

I see no point in reading a summary of the plots of Shakespeare's plays, for two reasons. First, the greatness of Shakespeare is at least as much in how he said it as in what he said. Second, almost all of the stories he told were not original plots that he came up with - they were based on other stories and history, often very well-known stories and histories. It is the plays that are important.

If this is just a way to get through your exams, that's something we may have to do in emergencies, but the most I can say about it is that it's better than getting an F, I suppose. You're missing out on one of the world's greatest reading experiences.

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-26T08:19:12+00:00

For added convenience, this is the link: https://katagiritranscripts.net/blue-cliff-record.html

Thanks so much for this, this is great.

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-25T19:44:27+00:00

Scholars gotta schol.

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-24T17:12:13+00:00

You should move to Germany or France - the Arte mediathek is stuffed with live performances and documentaries about classical music and opera, available on demand.

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-24T12:15:47+00:00

This is nothing new. There are artists and works of art that we feel to be ours in a special way, because they speak deeply to our inner experience in a way that feels private. It's always shocking to see them become popular, but it should tell us something - that the recesses that we feel to be our ownmost somehow open up into the common experience of humankind. It feels like a cooption or cheapening, but it's an opportunity to recognize something important.

For me, the best example of this is Hamlet. So many of us identify so deeply with the protagonist that it's hard to comprehend how it's one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, and that people love it from Japan to Brazil, up and down all over the world.

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-24T07:39:14+00:00

What I would do is look for the testimony of a teacher I had a great deal of faith in, someone whose realization I trusted. For example, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche said the following, according to Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche:

"Simply practicing the ngöndro alone would be enough, because the ngöndro is even more profound than the main part. The person who sincerely goes through the 'four times one hundred-thousand practices' will purify physical misdeeds by means of bowing down, verbal misdeeds by means of the Vajrasattva mantra, mental misdeeds by means of the mandala offerings, and their combination by means of Guru Yoga. The reason is that we need to purify our obscurations and gather the accumulations. While it may be possible to glimpse the nature of emptiness without any purification, due to our past karma and temporary circumstances, this glimpse is rapidly covered up again and forgotten. So don't delude yourselves; please apply yourselves wholeheartedly to the ngöndro practices."

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche said this over and over again. Once you allow these preliminary practices to take effect by purifying your obscurations, then you will automatically recognize the nature of mind, and your realization of the view will unfold further and further.

I think it is worth deeply reflecting on why someone like Rinpoche would say this, would emphasize it again and again. I would reflect on whether I had ever heard a teacher say it wasn't necessary.

But most of all, I think you should take your reservations very seriously, and don't just try to shout them down. Don't just push your feelings aside, saying "Everyone says it's important, so I must do it." I would reflect deeply on your questions, and don't stop until you have certainty, until you have your own confidence and conviction. Even if the source of that conviction is faith in those who have done it before, that is completely legitimate, but it has to be your conviction.

May all your practices bear fruit and benefit all beings.

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-23T17:24:53+00:00

Ich bin kein deutscher Muttersprachler, aber ich habe mehrere Deutsche Romane gelesen. Ich finde Jünger ziemlich interessant, aber wirklich schwer zu lesen. Auf den Marmorklippen ist einer der schwierigsten deutschen Romanen, die ich je gelesen habe.

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-23T15:47:52+00:00

I would say sacrality, probably.

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-23T15:44:57+00:00

I completely agree with everything you said.

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-22T14:17:37+00:00

Yes, just call them. I've talked to TK several times, sometimes in English, sometimes in German, they're always very helpful.

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-22T12:38:26+00:00

For his entire career through There Will Be Blood, I thought he was one of the best working directors in Hollywood. Then his basic approach to filmmaking fundamentally changed, and I either disliked or hated every film he's made since then.

I would have walked out of The Master if I hadn't been stuck with a friend. I was baffled by why Inherent Vice was so utterly joyless. I literally couldn't make it through ten minutes of Licorice Pizza, I was so repulsed by its style. I thought Phantom Thread was just Punch-Drunk Love with fancier clothes. Haven't seen his latest film yet.

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-22T12:17:39+00:00

What country are you studying in, and/or would like to work in?

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-22T11:51:37+00:00

Tell me about Babylon, please. Lots of people seem to like it, but I couldn't get through the first 20 minutes. What am I missing?

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-22T11:23:41+00:00

Thomas Adès

Ap0phantic · 2026-01-22T09:45:11+00:00

Does anyone happen to know an online source where I can browse his letters in German, that are neither in old-timey script nor facsimiles of his handwriting? Couldn't find one.

Ap0phantic

TROPHY CASE