The power of knowledge and action

This reading states the contradiction of the Advaitins and the Mimamsakas as it relates to obtaining the highest good. Through the knowledge of self, and right action and right cognition liberation is obtained. however both traditions agree that action and knowledge play different roles in obtaining liberation. According to Ram- Prasad " both sides agree that knowledge of the self is required in any correctly religious life, that is in any life oriented towards the attainment of the highest good".
While reading this statement what came to my mind was the Christian perspective of wisdom and knowledge and faith without works (action) is dead. This statement gives life to one who is cognitivly able to comprehend.
In Christianity the bible states that my people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge. And the Lord Jesus Christ gives to believers the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that their minds and hearts are enlightened. Just as Christianitys principles are rooted in knowledge so is the Buddhist principle of knowledge and obtaining our highest good. "Our highest good" is about reaching our full potential whether it is through knowledge, in association with mind, body, and spirit, your highest good will be associated with liberation. And freedom from bondage.
In my opinion without knowledge, their is no direction. Knowledge is better than any amount of wealth, so to detach self from material gain and seek knowledge and wisdom along with action is indeed a powerful form of spirituality. To pursue knowledge and wisdom is the pursuit of happiness!!

The Power of Perception

Perception is a powerful mechanism and tool for understanding and relating to a mental image of how something is viewed In the light of Interpretation. In the "Mystical languages of UNSAYING" Michael A. Sells asserts that "While looking at a smudged mirror the viewer sees the glass. If the mirror is polished, a shift occurs. The glass becomes invisible, with only the viewers image reflected. Vision has become self-vision." Sufi mystics used the polishing of the mirror as a symbol of the shift beyond the distinction between subject and object, self and other.
Depending on what type of lens one is looking through and focused on in their perspective world, it can be distorted or blurred, however the viewer can shift into self and therefore see clear into what before was blurred and distorted. I liken this metaphor to the story of Adam and Eve In the fall and pose the question: Was their perception a bit distorted when they ate the fruit of the tree of good and evil? and did the shift occur as a result of  eating the fruit , as they obtained knowledge and their eye's were opened?

Reading this text provoked a response in me as I remembered an experience I encounterd upon a visit to a Mosque for the first time. As I focused on the reading one particular statement captured my attention. "The Qur'anic texts from which many instructional teachings are derived often appear to relate to a specific cultural setting. For instance,  in the phrase often translated as "men are maintainers of women" It is believed that women needed to be protected by men, whether financially, or physically from the public, as they were excluded from the social arena. I struggled with this idea as a result of my visit and lack of knowledge of the religion at the time. I do not have a problem with the protection of women, but the notion of being  "maintained" applies a different connotation to the meaning. Upon my visit I entered the main sancturay via the front entrance, unaware of the side door available for women, I was quickly escorted to the women's area where we would worship in a seperate room, via live streaming sitting on the floor as the men worshipped in the main sancturay to recieve the word for the day, fully clothed from head to toe in mid august I tried to focus on the word and prayer, however I struggled with the equality of the treatment of women. So to what context should the teachings of the Qur'an be modified and applied as it relates to the maintaince of women?