The Shala Daily

When gunfire erupted near the Bondi Surf Lifesaving Club in Sydney, what followed was an extraordinary demonstration of selfless action: lifeguards in yellow and red, Christmas-costumed party guests, and everyday beachgoers rushing toward danger rather than away from it.

Matias Bengolea, a volunteer lifesaver, described the scene: grabbing oxygen tanks, defibrillators, and boards—anything that could help—while people dressed as Christmas elves performed CPR alongside trained first responders. This embodiment of nishkama karma (action without attachment to fruits) lies at the heart of the Bhagavad Gita’s teachings, where Krishna instructs Arjuna that we have the right to our actions but never to their outcomes.

🔥 Courage as Transformed Fear

Ahmed el Ahmed’s heroic act—rushing from behind a car to disarm a gunman approaching a Hanukkah celebration—exemplifies what happens when abhinivesha (the instinctive fear of death) is momentarily transcended. The kleshas teach us that while fear is a natural human response, it need not govern our actions.

As yoga philosophy reminds us, every base emotion has a higher state—fear can be transmuted into courage when compassion moves us beyond self-preservation. The lifeguard Jackson Doolan, photographed mid-sprint running barefoot a mile from Tamarama Beach with a heavy medical bag, wasn’t thinking about his personal safety. He was responding to dharma—his unique calling and duty in that moment.

In those chaotic moments at Bondi, a diverse community of immigrants and locals, professionals and volunteers, demonstrated this principle without conscious thought. There was no time to weigh outcomes. There was only the moment—and the choice to act.

🕊️ Ahimsa as Active Response

Ahimsa (non-harming) is often understood as passive restraint, but the Bondi response reveals its active dimension: rushing to heal, to comfort, to protect. When violence enters our world, ahimsa calls us not to passivity but to compassionate action.

The lifeguards who tagged the most severely injured with red markers, who lifted victims on surfboards, who covered their own bodies in others’ blood—they were practicing ahimsa in its fullest expression.

💚 The Heart Chakra Awakened

What moved these responders? The Anahata (heart) chakra represents unconditional love and connection—the recognition that we are not separate from those who suffer. When Bengolea’s voice broke during his interview, unable to describe the culture of care he witnessed, he was touching that “unstruck sound” the Sanskrit term suggests: the fundamental vibration of compassion that transcends words.

As practitioners, we cultivate this heart-opening not just on our mats but for moments when life demands we act from our deepest humanity.

🧘 Processing Grief and Trauma

For those who responded—and for the broader community now processing this violence—yoga offers pathways for healing trauma. Research demonstrates yoga’s effectiveness in reducing PTSD symptoms and supporting recovery from traumatic experiences.

Shannon Hardaker, a lifelong Bondi local, posted a video saying simply: “Heaviest stuff I’ve ever seen. I’m shaking.” This honest acknowledgment of grief and distress is itself a practice. Yoga philosophy teaches us that emotions are valid messengers, not obstacles. Processing difficult experiences—rather than suppressing them—allows us to move through darkness toward healing.

✨ “There’s Still Hope”

Perhaps the most profound teaching from this tragedy comes from Bengolea’s simple words: “There’s still hope. I think that’s the point. People rushed to help.”

In our practice, we cultivate qualities that prepare us for such moments: meditation builds presence and clarity, pranayama steadies the nervous system, and metta (loving-kindness) practice expands our circle of compassion.

The Bondi response reminds us that yoga is not preparation for retreat from the world—it is preparation for engagement with it. Every sun salutation, every breath practice, every moment of stillness builds the capacity to be present when presence is most needed.

“People rushed to help.” In these four words lies the essence of yoga made manifest—not on the mat, but in the broken-open heart of a community responding to darkness with light.