The Mission

The Mission. The name is a joke. There’s no mission at the Mission; the closest one is the Sonoma Mission, San Francisco Solano. But the term is evocative and most people don’t know the difference.

“My mission,” Marshall tells people, “is the human mission.”

Marshall teaches a blend of Jungian psychology and yogic philosophy at the Mission. Tantra mostly. Marshall prefers the Tantric traditions over the nihilistic pseudo-Zen Buddhism taught at Esalen. There is a decadence to Tantra, a lushness and mysticism that appeals to Marshall’s snobbishness. His way is more people-friendly, in any case. Marshall loves people.

“That’s my mission,” Marshall says, “to make people love people.”

The Mission is headquartered at its eponymous “campus” in Sonoma: about 100 acres set far back from any major road. Marshall acquired the property at an estate sale auction in 1971 with financial backing from SANDMAN. It includes three main buildings and several small outliers, those mostly for staff. A couple of bungalows, recently built, are available for celebrity guests who require a bit of privacy, though one is reserved for Sunshine Parker, Marshall’s majordomo and the Mission’s general manager.

The largest building is a 25,000 square foot Spanish Colonial Revival mansion built at the turn of the century by a San Francisco shipping magnate. Most of the Mission's guests stay there. The second is a smaller guest house built in the early 1940s. This is where Marshall lives, and is the location of the CCRME. The third and final building is a former stable that has been extensively remodeled to provide studios ("creative endeavor spaces") and group workshop rooms. The central grounds are well maintained in a strangely Near Eastern style — one that is hard to pin down — courtesy of Marshall’s whimsical gardener, Zeb.

Anyone can come to the Mission. It’s hard to find without a map or specific directions. But if you can find it, you’re welcome inside. Marshall turns away no one. “My life is an open book,” he tells people, which is funny, since it definitely is not. He’ll give a 15 year-old runaway a bed for the night. He’ll listen to their stories. Maybe he’ll apprentice one to Zeb. Or Dave, Marshall’s bagman and bodyguard, if he seems especially promising. But that’s rare. Most of the people who come to the Mission are Marshall’s clients.

Marshall’s clients include Hollywood actors and actresses, dissolute heirs, the emerging yuppy class, burnt-out creatives, bored housewives, businessmen going through midlife crises – the entire spectrum of the white upper-middle class, really. Fewer celebrities than you’d think, but their numbers also seem to be growing. They all pay thousands of dollars for retreats and workshops and special sessions. Some of these are taught by the Mission’s staff — Viv, mostly — though Marshall still handles most himself. He makes it worth their while. NLP can do a lot the heavy lifting. No one leaves the Mission feeling unchanged.

So I envision the Mission being a three-tier Rank organization. The top Rank (Rank 3? Or Rank 1?) would be Marshall, of course. Then Rank 2 would be the useful NPCs that Marshall employs: Viv, Dave, Zeb. Not too many of those. Then Rank 3 are the Special Ones and assorted hangers-on that Marshall accretes around him. Just kind of useful eyes-and-ears NPCs. He’ll want to incorporate (“The Mission, LLC”) for the liability and asset protection, plus the tax advantages.

The Mission is represented by Melvin Belli, whom Marshall keeps on retainer.