No, in Orthodoxy, monasticism is normative for all believers, each according to his gifts and stations. it has merely been given to the monastic to devote his whole life to becoming a living witness to Christ, while those of us whose vocation lies in the world are charged with becoming living witnesses throughout our lives as well. Thus, e.g., we are taught that (as per John Chrysostom), “the nuptial chamber can be as holy as the monk’s cell”. Moreover, man and woman receive crowns in marriage that make them kings and queens of their domestic kingdom, priests of the domestic Church, charged with making prayerful decisions that will lead them into greater holiness. The call to holiness extends into all aspects of our existence, including our work, which, like the monk’s prayer, should be an offering to God. And finally, just as the monk prays ceaselessly, so the person in the world is not exempted; many Orthodox Christians also recite the Jesus Prayer endlessly throughout the day, seeking to empty the mind of disruptive passions, so that they might attain the inner stillness (hesychia) through which we can perceive the uncreated energies of God.

In short, the difference between the monastic and the person in the world is a matter of degree, not of type.

But it fits the idea that holiness is only for the elite, so ordinary folks don’t have to bother with such things.

This was a breath of fresh air.

I don’t blame Simon for not catching some of the more outrageous statements of the monks, because he’s neither a Byzantinist nor a theologian specializing in Eastern Christian theology. I would not blame him if he swallowed some of the whoppers casually tossed out by a lot of Roman Catholic traditionalists for similar reasons. In any case, those claims were not central to the story, which was about the life of the monks on the Holy Mountain.