As a creative force in the business and technology community, Ray Sharma has revolutionary ideas and theories ranging from the power we can harness from kinetic energy to understanding the Internet as a metaphor for the connectivity of consciousness across the planet. They’ve served him well. After working as a top-ranked wireless technology analyst on Bay Street, Ray accurately predicted that mobile devices would represent the next wave of computing and subsequently founded XMG Studio, an award-winning developer of mobile games and apps, where he currently serves as President.
Beyond his visionary and intuitive knowledge of technology, he fuses the yoga ethos into his business in many ways. A close look at the XMG Studio corporate logo reveals a portion of the sacred OM symbol representing spiritual ascension to enlightenment. Also, certain games load with an audio OM sound. I’m not sure if the intention was a blessing for the user or the health of the company, but with over 40 million installs of titles that let gamers do everything from play hip hop mogul and drag racer to Ghostbusters and fashion star, it has clearly served as both.
Yet even with this incredible entrepreneurial success, Ray is humble and grounded. His wealth of knowledge around yoga is impressive and I’m very pleased to share his insights on yoga, business and technology.
What does yoga bring to your life?
It gives me both peace and perspective and it helps me manage the inevitable ups and downs of running a business. It also helps me have more compassion for other people. We all have a job and a duty, skills and gifts and these are how we contribute to our role in nature. If we withdraw to solitude to go meditate then we’re denying the world our skills. Yoga teaches me to go with the flow of nature while tapping into my heart for guidance, which allows us to access our own divine personal wisdom.
When did you start offering yoga in the workplace?
I introduced yoga to the staff because I thought it would benefit them but it’s not something that is pressured or mandatory. Yoga has the ability to help us understand the way we connect to people in the office. For those that have participated I have heard nothing but excellent feedback. Also, yoga is one way that as a company we can give back to our employees for their good work. It is also helpful in understanding balance in life and is connected to an ethos we have developed of giving back to the community. Every employee gets five days a year to work out in the community or do some sort of community service.
Do you believe in fate?
I believe that life is a balancing act between fate and free will. It’s our free will or choices that can cause us to deviate and take us off our path. Yet choice is also part of the process of course correction in taking us back to the things in life that help us with our personal evolution. Just like in the The Matrix, free will is the X-factor of life and it is what makes life so interesting for both us as well as the observers within the universe. In my personal view of the world I think it is absolutely okay (and necessary) to make mistakes in our life journey. In fact it is often our most difficult experiences that give us the best lessons in life.
How do you feel about Conscious Intelligence™ and making decisions from your intuition?
I believe there is intelligence of the mind and intelligence of the heart, and that intelligence of the heart is infinitely superior. There is knowledge in the Universe that is beyond the understanding of our mental faculties and the heart has the ability to tap into the intelligence that is required in the exact moment of time and space that you need it, for that point in your evolution. You can never go wrong by listening to your heart. And that’s because even if you choose wrongly in the perspective of outsiders you will never be wrong to your self.
Tell us more about the different roles of men and women in the world.
Yoga teaches us that everything in the Universe is a balance of male and female energy. In fact in my view male and female are this world’s metaphors for this energy. In yoga this is traditionally represented as Shiva and Shakti and that there is an objective to unify both to create a synergistic yin and yang of energy within our own personal universe. As men we need to learn how to be more in touch with our intuition. A lot of men outsource their intuitive decision making to their wives because they realize their wives are better at these types of decisions. The result is that men start outsourcing all their emotional decision making. I think it would be more powerful if men were to learn from women and be more in touch with their intuition.
What is your view of women in business?
I believe most of us haven’t fully realized the power of females in the workplace and we need to let women step forward and lead. We should empower women more in business, especially addressing the inequality of women in management roles and at the board level. In general, women can more naturally connect to their intuition and this can offer much needed insight into how we run businesses. In my view this trend is unstoppable and inevitable. We are seeing more evidence of this each day. Our very own Premier is one example and the 40% of US Senators elected in the most recent election is another. But we have much further to go and men should not be intimidated or feel emasculated by such a trend. It will be to the benefit to the overall system and nature itself to have more women in positions of influence.
How did you make the transition from Bay Street to running XMG?
In 2008, I left the investment banking world so that I could focus on spirituality. It’s always been my goal since being a child to shift my focus to this area and 5 years ago it seemed to be the right time. I studied many different spiritual scriptures including The Koran and The Bible and the ancient Indian Vedas and also travelled to Jerusalem. My focus in business also shifted from banking to entrepreneurial pursuits. Since then I’ve been involved in many start-up companies, and when I created XMG it was a start up of the heart, rather than a start up to just make money. I wanted to express myself creatively. I believe that games are a form of artistic expression and I was lucky to be able to create a business out of doing what I love.
What do you think about ego in the workplace?
Yoga has taught me that ego by definition is separation from divinity. Anything that takes you further away from the divine is inherently connected to ego. This is a deep thought and needs some consideration. I implement this in our workplace by trying not to be overly attached to my own ideas. Rather I use my heart to judge what is the best idea and I disconnect the owner of the idea from the idea itself. After all, luck and serendipity are the lifeblood of innovation. Another concept worth considering is the source of serendipity. By its very definition we realize that it does not originate from the self but rather some other mysterious source.
Did you believe you couldn’t be spiritual when you worked on Bay Street?
I used to think so, but now in the fullness of time I see this isn’t the case. Yoga has taught me that I play a number of different roles, when I walk off the elevator I put on my work jacket, when I meditate I put on a spiritual jacket, in the home I put on my father jacket.
Tell us about your philosophy of gaming, art and yoga.
Historians believe that the first ever game was created in India, called Leela. Translated it literally means the game of life and the North American equivalent it is well known as Snakes and Ladders. There are arrows that shoot you up the evolutionary scale and then there are snakes like Maya, representing Worldly illusion, which is at the very top and can take you right back to the start of the game. Ironically now I am running a games studio, and I believe in the concept of art imitating life. To me games are a form of artistic expression and therefore my work is sacred to me.
Games carry so many metaphoric messages of life and philosophy. Take the most popular video game of all time Super Mario Bros where if you do the right things and accumulate health you live longer. Or if you die you get reincarnated. If you save the princess its good karma and you get rewarded, it’s systematic and you’ll see it throughout many games.
There is a form of yoga called Raj Yoga. On the surface this means king yoga or living the life of both a king and a yogi. The more subtle meaning is the yoga of the mind. I believe the whole purpose of life is soul evolution and that the creative inspiration that we receive to produce art, music, film dance and painting is divine expression. Thus to me games are the Raj Yoga of art. In my view game playing is truly the intersection of creativity and intelligence, and you’ll see this expressed through game design.
Can you tell us about the Great Canadian Appathon (GCA)?
The GCA is a 48-hour hackathon that involves students from colleges and universities across Canada. We started out wanting to help students learn how to code and after three years the event has grown to include more than 600 students from 36 different schools across the country. It’s been a great way for us to reinforce our culture of XMG, which is of learning, teaching and humility. Everyone at XMG gets involved and we send our staff across the country to administer the event to give them real world experience. I love to walk into a school at 4:00 am to see the progress students are making, give them tips and let them know I’m staying up with them. This is part of our leadership culture – I would never ask people to do something I wouldn’t do myself.
Tell us more about XMG’s corporate culture.
The most important part of our culture is that we learn, evolve ourselves and enjoy being here. Giving back to the community is a big part of our culture and this includes staff volunteering in the community and also the GCA. Also, I listen to my staff and their input. I like to empower my teams to make their own decisions.
My yoga teacher has often said that his favorite part of the ancient story called the Mahabharata is at the very end. Krishna has an epic dialogue with his faithful student Arjuna. Krishna teaches Arjuna many of the most profound lessons of life in a discussion of historical implications. Yet after all is said and done Krishna steps back after sharing divine wisdom and knowledge and tells Arjuna that he will support whatever he ultimately chooses to do. Free will and choice is not only the X-factor of life but it is also the X in XMG.
From: The Corporate Yogi