Would be interesting to get Ferlinghetti response to Burroughs assertions vis a vis the ‘realities’ of today.

In a similar vein of Anslinger’s aphorisms – “You smoke a joint and you’re likely to kill your brother” – Burroughs too uses vague illogic i.e. “Tell the truth once and for all and shut up forever” my, my such impertinent impatience…

The irony is not missed, the sarcastic irony of let them eat succulent infants, the Matrixian rage agains the machine, forever our angst, and the attempt at oraclian wisdom is faulty too…after all the Arabs watched the collapse of the Twin Towers on their TV sets…

Still, the point is not missed one iota. The enslavement of man’s consciousness by corporate greed, this insidious obiquitous virus!

But let us be clear on terms to set the meaning of words behind the words – after all that is the color he was shooting for!

From Nisargadatta Maharaj in “I Am That”

Questioner: As I can make out, you give distinct meanings to the words ‘mind’, ‘consciousness’, and ‘awareness’.

Maharaj: Look at it this way. The mind produces thoughts ceaselessly, even when you do not look at them. When you know what is going on in your mind, you call it consciousness. This is your waking state—your consciousness shifts from sensation to sensation, from perception to perception, from idea to idea, in endless succession. Then comes awareness, the direct insight into the whole of consciousness, the totality of the mind. The mind is like a river, flowing ceaselessly in the bed of the body; you identify yourself for a moment with some particular ripple and call it: ‘my thought’. All you are conscious of is your mind; awareness is the cognizance of consciousness as a whole.