Ajahn Viranando was born in July 1976 in Thuringia, Germany. He became interested in Buddhism at the early age of 16 years and began attending monthly Dhamma evenings organised by the Dipankara Zentrum für Mahayana Buddhismus e.V. in Erfurt. At the end of a cycling trip through Australia in 2002 he sat his first meditation retreat in the Goenka tradition near Hobart, Tasmania and after travelling on through Malaysia and Thailand his cycling journey ended at The International Forest Monastery – Wat Pah Nanachat were he spent the next eight months, seven of them as an Anagarika. Back in Europe in March 2004 he worked and studied and in Juni 2011 he found his way via India to Wat Pah Nanachat once again. He ordained as Samanera in December of the same year and one year later in January 2013 his precepor Luang Por Liam Thitadammo ordained him in Wat Nong Pah Pong as a monk of the Ajahn Chah tradition. During his stay of more than six years in Thailand he spent his time at Wat Pah Nanachat and its branch monasteries Wat Poo Jom Gom and Wat Dao Dam as well as a branch monastery of Ajahn Dtun, Wat Kao Opaat led by Ajahn Prateep. After his fifth Vassa as a monk, in the fall of 2017, Tan Viranando came back to Europe, where he lived for the following 5 years at Wat Muttodaya in Germany, Dhammapala, Sumedharama in Portugal and Lokuttara Vihara in Norway, spending significant time on Tudong in between hisa stays at the various monasteries. He returned to Wat Pah Nanachat to help Ajahn Kevali for a year, after which he joined the community at Wat Dhammapala again at the end of 2023.