This term comes from the beliefs of an early Christian sect, whose members thought that faith alone, rather than moral standards, was required for salvation.
- In a broader sense, this phrase refers to a mindset in which individuals disregard societal norms.
Most individuals in Indian culture (like in other civilizations) follow the established behavioral standards, but some groups—particularly renunciant ascetics and practitioners of tantra, a secret ritual tradition—emphasize violating the norms.
- Such deliberate disrespect was (and still is) a sign of ascetics' separation from traditional society; they feel that such norms no longer apply to them.
- Ascetics are renowned for their unpredictable and often uncontrollable conduct as a group.
- Tantra practitioners have greater control over the procedure, which usually takes place in a formal ceremonial context.
The traditional tendency is to consume the "five prohibited things" (panchamakara), deliberately violating social standards by drinking intoxicants and nonvegetarian meals, as well as engaging in illegal sexual activity.
- Tantric antinomianism is an effort to render holy what is usually prohibited, despite the fact that it intentionally violates societal taboos.
- Tantric practitioners remove entrenched dualistic concepts such as pure and impure by doing so.
- From a tantric standpoint, the whole world is one principle—often the activity of a single deity—which implies that all dualistic notions must be rejected.
- Because tantra utilizes elements that are usually prohibited, such acts are regarded as evidence that tantra is better to other types of religious activity.
Refer to Arthur Avalon's (Sir John Woodroffe's) Shakti and Shakta, 1978; Swami Agehananda Bharati's The Tantric Tradition, 1977; and Douglas Renfrew Brooks' The Secret of the Three Cities, 1990 for further details.
You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.
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