About this site
About the teachers
Former Resident Teachers at
Wat Kow Tahm International Meditation Center
Rosemary (b. Australia 1952) and Steve (b. U.S.A. 1949) have been practicing meditation since 1972, and have received instruction from many of the leading Buddhist meditation teachers of Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka, India, Australia, England and the United States.
In 1978 they developed a deep connection to the Buddha's teaching as represented in the Theravadin tradition. This occurred because the Buddha's teachings and practices resonated strongly with what they had learned from their close connection with nature and alternate lifestyles. This was deepened by participating in intensive retreats in the Theravadin tradition.
With the wish to learn more, they traveled to Thailand in 1979. They had the good fortune of being able to visit and practice with many famous Thai meditation teachers. It was during this trip that they were greatly influenced by one particular teacher who stressed the importance of having Compassion, not only for others but also to have compassion for ourselves.
Upon returning to Australia, they tried to integrate their practice in active involvement in the community they had founded in 1977; building, organic gardening and farming, developing cottage industries in Arts and Crafts. Realizing the need for periodic withdrawal from activities into silent contemplation, they also continued attending meditation retreats which included practice in Australia, Burma, the U.S.A., and Thailand.
The importance of the meditative path deepened in their life so in 1986 they decided to devote their life more fully to the Buddha's teaching. After traveling to the U.S.A., Thailand, and India -- visiting teachers, practicing, and going into retreat -- they settled in Thailand, living and practicing in many different monasteries.
In 1987 they were requested to teach at Wat Kow Tahm and began the retreat programs in 1988. Periodically, they traveled to Australia, Singapore, the USA and Europe teaching retreats and/or workshops. They also regularly went into personal retreat, and received guidance from many leading meditation teachers in Thailand.
Rosemary and Steve arrived back in Australia in April 2013. They keep in close contact with a network of old students and past assistants around the world. And they plan to continue to teach retreats, give talks and lead workshops as long as their health and energy permit.
Stressed highly among Steve and Rosemary's teaching is the development of Compassionate Understanding.
Regarding Rosemary and Steve Weissman's Teachings
This collection of teachings contains the talks, questions and answers, and guided meditations of the old students' special retreat, taught at Wat Kow Tahm International Meditation Center, Koh Pah-ngan, Thailand, and at retreat centers in Germany and Australia.
To anyone who has not practiced with Rosemary and Steve Weissman before, please consider the following caution. Although much of the teachings here will prove beneficial for any sincere spiritual practitioner, it would help the listener to be familiar with the style and emphasis that Steve and Rosemary use in their teachings. If you have not done a retreat with them, then it could be of benefit to first read their other books which cover the 10-day retreat: ...with Compassionate Understanding , a basic collection of the 10-day talks; and/or Meditation, Compassion & Lovingkindness, a collection of selected teachings from the 10-day retreat. They are also available in other languages. Please visit our website www.rosemary-steve.org for more information.
Please note: as the English language does not have a gender-neutral term for the third-person singular, at times the word "they," is used, rather than "he" or "she."
It is sincerely wished that these teachings will be of much benefit for you, and that you will be able to share this benefit with others. May we all grow in Peace, Compassion, Love, Understanding, Joy and Equanimity.
About Wat Kow Tahm
Steve & Rosemary no longer teach at Wat Kow Tahm. The current Wat Kow Tahm teacher is not an old student of Rosemary & Steve, nor have they ever met. If you wish information concerning Wat Kow Tahm, please visit Wat Kow Tahm's website.
The Knowledgebase Engine
This is Rosemary & Steve Knowledgebase, Version v2.3.2627
This Database has been compiled on Feb 5, 2023 and contains 2627 entries.
The Knowledgebase was tested and works with all modern browsers and most mobile devices. Some functionality may not work in older browsers such as Internet Explorer.
The Rosemary & Steve Knowledgebase has been developed with the support of the following tools (our thanks to them for providing their free service).
Acknowledgements
This Knowledgebase has come about primarily through the efforts of Steve and Rosemary Weissman in their teaching of the Special Retreats.
It was created with the intention of giving students access to many more of their teachings, and to preserve them in digital form so that students can continue to benefit from them in the event of their death.
Many thanks to Patrick Wolf for designing and programming the Knowledgebase, a great job. And to Richard Penny for helping to update it.
Plus thanks to all the old students & friends for their work in transcribing and editing the Q & As from the Special Retreats. These include: Guido Meurer, Meghan Kenney, Josie Wolf, Nathan Bitting, Lucy Bitting, Helge Sansom, Patrick, Todd Davis, Mattea Scharlipp Ann Carolin Renninger, Kate Armstrong, Qiu Forster, Aparna Gullapalli, Bill Weir and Chelsie Anderson. Our sincere apologies if we have missed anyone.
How to use the reference codes
Each entry in this database has a unique reference code, which is made up of
"Year.Month.x.Day.Index"
So if you copy down the reference code of an entry, you can use it to find the entry again if you'd like to review it.
For example, if you read a Question and you want to be able to find it again, look at the top for the reference code. It might look something like:
2002.01.x.04.02
By looking at this reference, and using the code above, you can see that this question is from the 2002 January retreat, and it is the second question asked on Day 4. So by using this code you can quickly get to the question again, by going to the source section, selecting the 2002 January retreat, and looking up Day 4, Question 2.
Inquiries
For further meditation questions or explanation about the meditation teachings given here, Steve and Rosemary can normally be contacted at: teachers@rosemary-steve.org.
If you have received no response after two weeks, please email again as it is possible the email was lost.
How you can help...
Steve & Rosemary Have been teaching since 1987, without any salary, holiday pay, sick pay, retirement pension, etc. They have relied on the support of students to be able to teach with less material worries. If you would like to help Rosemary & Steve, please visit their website gift page.
Thank you very much for your support.
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This does not include audio and electronic reproductions or posting on websites. Written permission is necessary for reproducing in audio and electronic forms and for posting on websites.
Thank you very much for following these conditions.