Transcendental communication and cultural sustainability: rethinking spiritual responsibility at the Bali Spirit Festival

Abstract

Sustainability in cultural events is commonly discussed in terms of environmental management and economic performance, while its communicative and spiritual dimensions remain underexplored. This study investigates how transcendental communication at the Bali Spirit Festival 2024 redefines cultural sustainability through spiritual responsibility. Using an interpretive qualitative case study, data were collected through in-depth interviews with 28 purposively selected participants, participant observation, and source triangulation, and analysed using thematic analysis. Three main findings emerged. First, transcendental communication reframed sustainability from a technical environmental concern into a lived spiritual responsibility enacted through yoga, meditation, sound healing, and collective rituals. Second, Tri Hita Karana functioned as a communicative framework that strengthened relationships between humans, the Divine, society, and nature. Third, participants valued the festival's contribution to ecological awareness and cultural continuity while also highlighting tensions between spiritual authenticity and the commercialization of global wellness tourism. The study argues that sustainability should be understood as a communicative and cultural process through which ethical responsibility and collective meanings are continuously negotiated, positioning transcendental communication as a conceptual bridge between ritual communication, cultural sustainability, and global cultural tourism.