A monk completely avoids practicing a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures.
Eastern monasticism is found in three distinct forms: anchoritic (a solitary living in isolation), cenobitic (a community living and worshiping together under the direct rule of an abbot or abbess), and the "middle way" between the two, known as the skete (a community of individuals living separately but in close proximity to one another, who come together only on Sundays and feast days, working and praying the rest of the time in solitude, but under the direction of an elder)
 Although the Rassophore does not make formal vows, he is still morally obligated to continue in the monastic estate for the rest of his life

