Ramana Vanderbeek was born to a family of Siddha Yogis and began to serve as a visiting sevite at Shree Muktananda Ashram as a teenager. He has offered seva in the Ashram as a vocalist and a speaker.

Ramana attended the Baltimore School for the Arts, specializing in theater, and earned a bachelor’s degree in theater from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, which he attended on a Linehan Arts Scholarship. He lives in Baltimore, where he works as a professional actor.