Jeff Bien is an internationally acclaimed poet and musician, and highly regarded meditation, consciousness and spiritual practitioner. His work has been published, translated and performed in more than sixty countries. He is the author of numerous books which have received critical acclaim in Canada and abroad, and his poetry has been the recipient of many awards. His newest collection, In a Time of No Song, with an introduction by A.F. Moritz was released by Exile Editions.

Along with literature and music, he has undertaken a lifetime study of psychology, geopolitics, allopathic and holistic medicine, philosophy, exoteric and esoteric religion, and a miscellany of related disciplines. He has written works of explicit consciousness through a multidisciplinary lens seeking the common denominator to unify the individuated faculties of knowledge.

He has recorded two CD’s of poetry to music, A Taste of Creation and America & other poems, along with his first recording of song, Songs of Forgiveness & Prayer, which features his own original music in collaboration with many of Canada’s finest musicians. The album was one of CBC’s selections of the year and was nominated for a World Folk Music Award, and was widely reviewed, and received.

His music has been praised for its vision and lyrical quality, and for inspiring and awakening social and spiritual consciousness. With fraternal greetings from Leonard Cohen, accolades from Mercan Dede, Liona Boyd, David Broza, and other international artists, it is an auspicious debut. Bien’s work embodies diverse musical and cultural influences, engaging oral and formal traditions which include the migrancy of folk, jazz, classical, African and spiritual idioms.

Bien has been acclaimed as “…an astonishing lyricist” by George Elliott Clarke, “another Walt Whitman has taken root in Canada” by George Whitman of Shakespeare and Company in Paris, “a ruthless, truth-telling poet” by Poetry Australia, and “a master poet, eloquent and erudite” by the CBC, in addition to having been recognized by Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney in selecting his work for the Arvon Anthology of Great Britain.

And of his work, it has been written “his poetry crackles with prophetic energy” in Canadian Literature, “Potent and persuasive” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, from City Lights, San Francisco, “The kind of poem that should not have been able to be written” by Gary Geddes, “a display of verbal pyrotechnics such as I’ve never seen before” by Irving Layton and “This is like watching lightning, strike after strike of lightning” by Barry Callaghan.

A mural featuring a rendition of the cover of his book, America & other poems, was commissioned on a heritage building adjacent to the University of Toronto. The re-release of the book, which was recorded in Paris, and Havana, and was heralded as prophetic, has been expanded to include a new prose piece, entitled “Pax Americana”,  engaging the dystopian and apocalyptic New World Order.

Most recently Mercan Dede, whose last album was number one in the world (World music), composed music for a number of Bien’s readings of his most recent poems, including them in his newest release, alongside recordings of Mahatma Gandhi, as well as Rumi, and other prominent artists. One of Bien’s poems, “One Buddha Is Not Enough”, was viewed over half a million times within two days, and was, included in the Buddha Bar’s annual compilation, released worldwide.

A number of his poems have been given musical treatment by Emmanuel Reverdi (Paris) and released internationally on CD (Access/9 Ave. B), Melodie Records, as well as EMI.

Along with his newest collection of poetry, Bien is presently completing two new books of prose, Songs of Non-Separation: Teachings on Consciousness & Spirituality, culled from years of practice and study within various traditions, and Undressing the Illusion: Letters to a Young Mystic, as well as a new collection of prose, The Poet Sings.

His teaching work rests on its own merit, and is widely acknowledged as a unique and powerful presence based on a lifelong work of explicit consciousness, spiritual practice and study, and has been recognized by many prominent figures from all walks of life.

Bien is cited as the lineage of Life Cosmic, a cooperative of meditation and Yoga, whose founder Alexander Petrogiani has been his student for more than ten years of intensive study and practice; as well as Rafi Aaron, activist  and founder of  the Interfaith Coalition for the Homeless, and co-chair of one of the Out of the Cold shelters in Toronto, who too cites Bien as a teacher, and has been a deep witness of his teachings put into practice on a steadfast journey for more than twenty years; and Laura Robertson, founder of CPASS (Chronic Pain Support Services), an advocate and peer counsellor for persons living with medical and mental health challenges, and member of the Emergency Opioid Task Force, Ontario Ministry of Health.

In addition he has taught and counselled, through conversations, correspondence, and in the communion of deep discernment and listening, many hundreds of seekers and students informally, as well as advocating medically on behalf of a multitude of those suffering without redress, with no compensation but for the greater gift and gratitude requited, which is at the heart of his teaching practice.

His work was recently recognized by some of Canada’s foremost musicians and writers, and will be released in 2019, as both a live CD and documentary entitled, “Song in a Time of No Song”, celebrating  the spiritus of his  poetry , music, and consciousness work.