That's exactly right. "Conscious dreaming" is a New Age practice. New Age teachings like "A Course in Miracles" are malignant because disciples are taught that they can create their own reality simply by the "energy" or "vibrations" that they give off, whether bad or good. (Yes, that's what "Good Vibrations" is all about). Practitioners are often motivated by simple greed. Practitioners often become psychotic (detached from reality; see the link to Sharon Lee Giganti in my original post) or suicidal, since they come to believe that they are causing any disasters that befall them.
I believe that Loughner thinks he is in a dream and that he can do whatever he wants because nothing is real.
I believe the same thing. I suspect that his mug shot smirk derives from the fact that he "knows" that his situation is simply a dream that he is ultimately in control of.
Buddhists understand that life and self are an illusion...The only way to escape this illusion is to see what true reality is and that begins with understanding that reality is internal. Love and compassion are the guiding principles for all those are still caught up in the world of suffering...
You sound like a good-hearted person. Christians believe that God, the transcendent reality, is love. But love and truth are convertible terms, that is, they are essentially the same thing, but aspects of the same thing apprehended in different ways by the human person. For example, love is the good of the heart; truth is the good of the mind. God is One/Love/Good/Truth/Being (His existence, unlike ours, does not depend on any other thing).
If any of this interests you, I would encourage you to read St. Thomas Aquinas. A great (and mercifully brief) resource is Aquinasonline.com.
I think Buddhists and Hindus would agree with the great Christian mystics who teach that under it all, is love. But Christians diverge with Hindus regarding the notion of Truth. Hindus teach that God or Ultimate Reality transcends Western notions of "true" and "false." But this begs the question: Is it true? Is it true that God transcends categories of "true" and "false"? To say that it is true that God transcends truth is a logical contradiction, and therefore meaningless.
My only struggle comes from having this knowledge and living in reality for long periods of time because so many around me are still caught up and it is difficult to maintain the peace. I guess thats why so many monks isolate themselves..lol. The reason for all of this discussion is that I think Loughner only got half the message
Again, I sense that you are a good-hearted person, and I don't mean any of my statements to be critical of you. But the seeds of Loughner's New Age beliefs lie in Hinduism, the teachings of which can engender indifference to this world and often, other people. I would cite Indian society as evidence of this.
I wonder how much drug use could contribute to his dream beliefs. If he is just in a drug induced psychotic condition, I'll bet that once he's detoxed, that smirk will disappear real quick.