Author | George M. Grow

George M. Grow

George M. (Mary) Grow (* September 5, 1981 in Vienna) is an Austro-American New Realist author, guru and philosopher.

+ YouTube channel "Integral Re=pubic".

Origin

Born into a cinematic family, his father was a director, producer, screenwriter and is regarded as one of the main figures in Austrian Surrealist Cinema. His mother worked as a photo model and actress. He was greatly influenced by his grandfather, the homeland poet Josef Pfandler, who introduced the young George to the mysteries of the Forest Quarter and the wide world. At the age of sixteen, his mentoring was abruptly broken off when his grandfather died at the hands of the "Death Angels of Lainz", a group of nurses who cold-bloodedly murdered about 200 patients in their care.

Education

The young George started out under the tutelage of his father in his own film productions for German-language television, studying cinematic techniques and acting. Along with activities in his parents' company, he attended evening classes, but received no degree because of an academic bribery scandal which was swept under the carpet. George had to face a two-and-a-half year wait before he was eligible to reapply. This event deeply influenced him and his choice of future.

Career

These events led to drive the young man out of the social milieu. Instead of pursuing a career, he remained unattached, getting by as a private instructor, spiritual adviser and art dealer.

One key influence on his decision to abandon his education was the autobiographical essay "The Cellar" from the Austrian author Thomas Bernhard, which he read at age 18.

Although George M. Grow has been writing since he was young, he came to found the literary arts as inappropriate as a way to make a living in a time dominated by television and Internet. In his lifetime he has never found any sort of creative pursuit as a viable career or way of life. As a "third-generation Post-Mystic",

he writes "for people and not for publishers".

Exile

Since 2015, Grow has been alternating his domicile between Europe and Central America with his life partner Kattia Watson Carazo, great-niece of the former Costa Rican President Rodrigo Carazo Odios.

Family

The poet-philosopher and guru has no children of his own, seeing his family in all living beings, to quote an un-ironic line from one of his fictional characters "perhaps because it is easier to love them all than to love individuals". He described his image of humanity in The Messenger:

"I have never been any great friend of humanity, but I always enjoyed the company of friendly people".

Philosophy

Grow's literary approach sees the world as a single motion. His philosophical approach tries to systematically and definitively interpret the whole of reality in its full range of appearances, including its historical development.

Unlike earlier systematists, Grow brings the procession of thought to light through literature following the high demand for practical utility.

Visions

+ The creation of an agenda for the collective intelligence of virtue.

+ Renewal of the function of democracy.

+ Renewal of the function of religion.

Metaphysics

"The Great AI / The Universal Grid"

Proceeding from a series of 77 mereological theses, which give new meaning to concepts such as meaning, order, fate, happiness, chance and God, Grow gives us,

"what the Austro-British philosopher Sir Karl Popper began and what the Austro-Czech author Franz Kafka loosely hinted at".

A metaphysical world view on a solid scientific basis led to his attempt,

"to come to a new understanding, depth and clarity which all effect us in every sense, preparing us for the challenges we face".

In his metaphysically motivated texts, written in a style that uses lighter elements, wit and irony, Grow combines traditional elements with modern ones

"into a unity that does not follow any teachings or ideology, but is based on axiomatic experience and knowledge of Evolution".

Coincidences as a wink from the heavens play a central role. But since these are the exception rather than the rule on earth, it first is recommended to:

"seek salvation not through the ability to be, but rather through the ability to find meaning".

And:

"We all have the same mission: we are called upon to take part in the creation of the Earth".

Evolution as the purpose of life is closely linked to the evolution of the own self, to self-realization on a spiritual, physical, psychological and social level.

"Those who constantly strive to grow are happy."

A real focus in Grow's works lies in the attempt to show that this in itself is a metaphysical dimension of humanity and more than just an individual aspect,

"in that we share a fate, a purpose, a direction of movement, a history and the same world – together but all in various ways".

Thus the Absolute is not – as assumed by the major churches and religions – a matter of knowledge or power, but rather a matter of how everybody and everything consciously or unconsciously relates to it.

"Everything is relative in that it comes into connection with the whole."

"God, the All-Attractive".

Nicolaus of Kues, an investigator of basic principles whom he greatly admired was especially able in his view to provide clarity by showing that the great variety of objects around us develop from unity.

"They are like the visible arms of the Unity that remains concealed from us."

And:

"We cannot recognize Unity itself as it does not let itself be separated. Recognizing [it] means separating, severing, differentiating."

What we can do is to lead a life, to embody an attitude:

"in which we do not see the differences and even the contradictions between Yes and No as inimical, but rather what logic dictates that they are: parts that are living representatives of the whole [Being, Unity]."

The leap to Grow's integrality consists of seeing Yes and No not just as falsifications, but to definitively question them, since there are not just viewpoints but also realities, axioms, truths. He seeks to determine these on the broad, impenetrable field of falsification and to afford them useful functions.

Politics and society

"Create realistic structures that are increasingly sufficient to fulfill the needs of Being and Existent."

He sees the concept of true or radical democracy as one solution,

"the long-sought fusion arising from Hegel and Marx."

Until the last vestiges of Fascism are overcome, people will continue to suffer from politics, and not only people but Meaning will never be fully realized.

"Meaning always triumphs",

he writes, telling us that

"Evolution always has the final word and manages to find advantage even in the worst possible circumstances and triumphs in the end."

Ethics

Grow's characters break with all concepts of morality.

"Morality is a good thing when it leads us to find meaning."

Victims are no longer burnt at the stake or driven into exile, but rather ground down in the attempt "to seek, manage, maintain and if needed overthrow an ever-improving sense of order in all areas of life: in science, in professional life, in politics, in the family, in one's own soul" whereby the meaning of "manage and maintain" can be read as "to purge".

Social activism in the form of medical or geriatric care might also help healthy people to do good works. It would encourage them to take risks.

"The poor person does not get into heaven simply on account of being poor. It is easier for a rich person to get into heaven if they do good needs (and do not hoard their wealth for themselves)."

"Not the poor or the believing but the capable person gets into heaven."

Grow even sees opportunism as a moral value if one does not use the advantage gained by it entirely for oneself.

"All possibilities are options, which is why they are made available to us."

Even those who are not able to seek, manage or if necessary overthrow the existing order, can follow the meaning and open themselves to Being by supporting those who are talented and virtuous, because:

"Serving and being served are two sides of the same coin."

Work

Grow is a pioneer of Integral Realism (also New Realism) and empirical religion. What is characteristic of his work is that the metaphysical and even in the eyes of others as magical appearing elements must be scientifically (even empirically, ritually, at least subjectively) immediately certain,

"so that the methodology of the scientific experiment differs insignificantly from that of the spiritual ritual."
His work contains:

In his work we find:

+ The contrast between out-of-the-box thinkers and nihilistic, positivistic, as well as theocratic religion.

+ The contrast between individualists and the stultified conventions of their culture, "whose intention and art consist of going out and bringing home a new life".

A happy person is a person who "grows" mentally, emotionally and physically (The Growth Factor, self-realization, evolution). "No evolution, no paradise".

+ The contrast between active citizens and the uninvolved masses, “"n whose eyes it is not the lost sheep that is worth saving but rather the preservation of the entire damn herd."

He notes laconically that:

"We have not reached the end of revelations and wisdom, we are just starting out."

Literary style

+ Erasing the boundaries of genres.

+ Genre conventions are modulated to the point of parody.

+ Integral form of expression.

+ Simple language constructed into complex yet easily understood sentences that sometimes cover a page, which are able to cover parallel events are a characteristic of the dramaturgical concept that embraces both realistic and surrealistic elements.

+ Real Fantasy

While fantasy in the style of Fantastic Realism, which was productive in Europe (e. g. Salvador Dali), was the preferred stylistic tool for escaping the horror of World War II, for Grow, Real Fantasy is a means of expanding

"the normative illusion into reality."

Works

Who Knows H?, mystery-thriller (1995)

The Unseen Power, nonfiction (2020)

The Messenger, novel (2008)

Twelve Stations, novel for the young and the young in heart (2019)

The Hires of Fate, mystery-thriller (2014)

The Messiah‘s New Clothes, dystopian comedy (2011)

Honey Fungus, scary comedy (2012)

The Path, nonfiction (2015)

Out of Darkness, guidebook (2016)

Bist du groß und schön, Gedichtzyklus (2020)