Norman is a Zen teacher in the Suzuki Roshi lineage of Soto Zen. I’ve had the good fortune to sit with him on occasion and have listened to many of his Dharma talks on the Everyday Zen website."The essence of mindfulness is that you stop taking your life so personally. That’s the essence of what we are discovering here. My life is not really my personal possession, and that is exactly my problem, that I take my life so personally. That’s why I am getting into so much trouble.
"The more I get close to this breath, the more I realize that this is the same breath that the person next to me is breathing. The whole planet is breathing. When I really watch my breath, and merge with my breath, I realize that it is not so personal. It is the universal breath that we are all breathing.”
~ Zoketsu Norman Fischer
I think when he says, “mindfulness” that he’s referring to zazen.
In any case, it’s a good reminder.