Like the sheltered, fertile valley, the meditative mind is still, yet retains its energy as the hibernating animal retains life within its whole being, and is unaffected. Since both energy and stillness, in themselves, do not have form, it is not through the senses that they may be found, nor understood by intellect alone, although, in Nature, both abound.
In the meditative state, the mind ceases to differentiate between existences, and that which may or may not be. It leaves them well alone, for they exist, not differentiated, but as one, within the meditative mind. When living by the True Path, awareness of self is not required, for in this way of life the self exists and is also non-existent; being perceived of, not as existent, nor as non-existent.