Inner Practice

Human practice is primarily "outer" - survival skills first in the natural environment, then in increasingly artificial environments. How many kinds of "inner practice" are there? I ask this question because some inner practices are described and discussed in works by Poul Anderson and SM Stirling, including Stirling's The Sea Peoples, which I am currently reading.

Inner practices:

shamanic visualization of Otherworlds;
clairvoyance? (needs scientific verification);
the disciplined imagination of artistic creation;
meditation techniques like visualization and mantra;
philosophical thought practiced either by individuals or by communities;
zazen.

Zazen is just sitting with whatever comes up. Natural thoughts arise but we do not add to them. We are in ordinary waking consciousness, not in a trance. This practice gradually decreases our identification with thoughts.

Although zazen is the opposite of shamanism or clairvoyance, I nevertheless felt some kinship with Deor when he mentioned his initiation by Lady Juniper.