Elevated Existence Magazine is honoring Ram Dass with the 2013 Elevated Existence Spiritual Service Award, presented each year to a person whose actions, intentions and work spread the gift of spirituality, enlighten others with the wisdom and tools to improve the quality of their lives, and contribute to the overall uplifting of the world’s consciousness.

Ram Dass traveled to India in 1967 where he met his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, known as Maharaj-ji. Since then, he has dedicated his life to helping others open their heart, connect with their soul and transform their lives through divine love. He was given the name, Ram Dass, by Maharaj-ji, which means “servant of God,” and he continues to serve others today at the age of 82.

“We are all souls, and what we have to learn in this incarnation is to rid ourselves of separateness,” he said in Elevated Existence’s December 2013 cover story. “Each individual soul has God within it, and all the love, light, joy and peace that comes from melding with God.”

In his newest boo, “Polishing the Mirror,” Ram Dass explains that in order to gain our soul, we must first lose our minds. He says that discovering the soul is similar to peeling away layers of an onion to get to the core within.

“The mind is the ego. It tells us who we are and identifies with this incarnation and our roles in it,” he said in the cover story. “But it’s about going from the role to the soul.”

One of the practices he offers to help with this shift is the Loving Awareness Meditation. This assists a person in moving into his or her heart or spirit and out of the mind or ego self. By meditating on and repeating the phrase “I am loving awareness,” one can begin to make this journey, and move into the energy of love.

“The spiritual journey is not about acquiring something outside yourself. Rather, you are penetrating deep layers and veils to return to the deepest truth of your own being,” he said.

For more form Ram Dass, see the December 2013 issue of Elevated Existence Magazine.