Thank you, Vilas, for sharing your experience. It is apparent that you have spent time contemplating on some key issues.
You said, “What I found out is that by changing the “gati” or habit pattern, one can change the way “chitta flows” and what rupa is being created and what perception is being had, what feeling is being generated and whether an abhisankahara needs to be performed”
That is a key point. And those gati are changed permanently at each stage of magga phala.
As you explain in the rest of the post, “I” that arises depends on the arammana (thought object) and one’s gati.
This is why there is no “unchanging self”. But since gati come into play, one cannot say that there is “no-self” either. Until one gets to the Arahant stage (i.e., until one’s gati are removed), there is a “perception of a self”. This is the key that many people have a hard time understanding.