For more than 1,000 years, bearded, black-robed Greek Orthodox monks have lived in theocratic communities on that marble crag, Mount Athos, which rises 6,000 ft. out of the Aegean Sea. Accessible to male visitors, the monks are used to being asked: "What is the purpose of your life?" They invariably reply: "What is the purpose of your life outside?" Few years ago Mount Athos had a visitor who did more than ask about purposes. A Dartmouth sociologist named Michael Choukas, he viewed the "holy mountain" as a medieval hangover, a laboratory for pure...
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