The Real tools for winning the mental/spiritual battle within, are the Hermetic Principles. Meditation can show you ego-loss and how not to cling to things, but it is by the realization of Hermetic principles that we take full control over ourselves, and learn all the pulleys and levers to our spiritual interface.

I feel like this is what I've been learning over the past while, especially with the Gurdjieff stuff. It's more of a mapping out of how the body/mind system functions in time, and then learning how to give it impulses from what you might call a 'higher center', and learning how to optimally operate your "machine", despite all the blindness-engendering functions that arise in it.

It's interesting how their tradition maps out the self as comprising of multiple centers. Theres four "centers"... biology/instinct -> Movement-> Affect/emotion -> Intellect. Through self observation you can tell that these are different systems that operate somewhat independently, although are influenced by each other, and are prone to becoming 'automatistic'in their function, but also can be operated consciously.

It's a lot to take in at first but my observations as well as several scientific studies I've come across seem to verify this, like the human organism is not just one mind but has multiple different levels in them, and this becomes helpful to know the more you see it in yourself.

The more you observe the more you see the continual lapsing of the mind, and it brings you closer and closer to the self realization that "I have very little, if any, control over this machine". And with that comes an impetus to develop a more enduring center to act from. First it is developed by observing arising automatic impulses. Eventually it begins to learn how to give impulses and control the behavior of the self. You can give an action impulse, an impulse to resist an arising urge, and things like that. And also, impulses are given to different centers, such that you don't just tell yourself to do something, you give a strong jolt to your movement center to make it bring you to an action, or you begin actively using the intellectual center to mentalize and properly resist an urge that arises in you.

Sorry, this all seems needlessly complex when I present it all at once, but it's all been very helpful to me. There are other functions that are helpful to know too. I remember awhile ago, when you first told me about hermetic stuff, I looked up and found the concept that everything is male/female, even states of consciousness, and you need balance in how you act with those. I found that to be another helpful mapping. Taking in vs. Doing, intro vs. extro. Another one is that the human machine kind of functions similarly to the cycles that bipolar people go through, although less intensely. Such that there are hypomanic states and then lower rest states, and you need to find optimal expression through the states that your organism goes through, good productivity in the high and good rest in the low.

Finally, I think I also root all this in the necessity of serving others and not self-serving. When you act for the betterment of the whole of humanity, your actions are channelled more effectively. What you give gets put back into you. You need to become a source of value, and use yourself wisely instead of blindly.

Positive Disintegration is also a good subject to look into.

By Dabrowski?? Oh heck yeah, this is one of my favorite pet theories/topics, I'm glad to see you know about it too.