That's the central teaching of "A Course in Miracles," the idea that you create your own reality through your own thoughts. The "Law of Attraction" is that you attract good or bad things by having good or bad thoughts, or good or bad "energy."
It is this belief that causes depression and psychosis, because people who suffer from disease or misfortune are taught that they are the cause of their own suffering. The only logical escape is suicide, as Sharon Lee Giganti, a former New Age guru, experienced with some of her disciples (see my original post above).
Castenada recounted a dream where a spirit guide revealed this teaching to him:
Castaneda is told that all he has to do to stay is to state his intention to do so out loud, because "[e]verything you say out loud in this world is for keeps." Id. Castaneda is suspicious that he is being tricked, but the voice tells him, "I cannot lie to you, because a lie doesn’t exist . . .
I’m sort of leery of speculating in this direction, but Jared Loughner was an only child, his mother at least was of the right age to have been a part of this scene in some way, 53 years old at present. She’s with the Audubon Society in Pima County, also with “Agua Caliente,” a park. Castaneda had a thing about going to the desert.
Could be completely unwarranted, but the hints of it are there. He was exposed to it at some point and not necessarily via that course at the community college, which to my ears sounds pretty surface and basic.
But not in the way you mean.
ACIM teaches that before we are born, our souls create our reality, our whole experience of life, in order to become better souls. It does not say our lives will be easy.
I think the biggest issue with lucid dreaming and the psychotic break comes in the first few hours after leaving the dream state. I’m working on my masters in Psychology I’m highly intelligent and typically very psychologically sound. However, I just had a very lucid dream, which over the years I’ve learned to relax and enjoy and look for cues to continue the dream, but thats just the issue. When you awaken you feel certain at first that you are home, and then you look for cues. Its disturbing when your mind has been working overtime even for a very small window of time to find cues that change your scenery and location only to come out of that search mode to a stable environment. Facinating stuff and if you have the mental fortitude I suggest you practice it and explore, but be forewarned it is not for the faint of heart, and by that I don’t mean the macho do well, the truely mentally strong and capable can explore safely, but very very cautiously.