There's a Zen story I love that illustrates this well. A monk lived in retreat on top of a mountain. A novice would bring him food, water and firewood occasionally, but other than that, he lived in solitary isolation, absorbed in Jhana.

One day, the monk put a pot of water on his fire, added some potatoes, then settled down to meditate while the potatoes cooked.

He became so absorbed in Dhyana that he was quite surprised, when he opened his eyes, to see the novice standing before him looking confused. He was even more surprised when he reached to tend to his potatoes and found that not only had the pot boiled dry, but the fire had gone out, the fire pit was stone cold and the potatoes had gone mouldy!