Venerable Michael Viradhammo

Co-Founder & Director at Wisdom Age Initiative

Speaker

After discovering the healing power of Buddhism and meditation, Venerable Michael decided to abandon material pursuits, paid back his loans, and left his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia to become a Theravada Buddhist monk in Thailand where he has been ordained since 2017. Since then, Venerable Michael has helped with teaching meditation and wisdom to thousands of travelers at the Pa Pae Meditation retreat in Chiang Mai as well as teaching and mentoring men who become a monk with the international ordination program.

He is also an avid writer and spearheads all of Wisdom Age Initiative’s (their public charity) writing projects including the books, quote cards, and other communications. He is passionate about designing systems that solve repetitive problems and—alongside Venerable Nick—utilizes ancient wisdom and modern tech to co-create custom meditation and wisdom curriculums and programs tailored to the specific needs of leaders and organizations across many industries. He is also making many other wisdom resources, running events and retreats, and traveling the world with Venerable Nick on a shared mission to bridge mental health with spiritual health. Venerable Michael is deeply dedicated to continuous spiritual cultivation, aligning his life with wisdom and well-being, and helping others do the same.