Monastic Stability

I'm reading a book I think I described earlier, From the Holy Mountain by William Dalrymple which relates a pilgrimage of Middle Eastern churches that mirrors a similar trip in the 6th century.

The author makes an interesting statement. The Eastern monastic tradition is for monks to be free to move from spiritual father to spiritual father, gleaning what wisdom they can from whomever they wish, much like the Indian sadhus. However, since St. Benedict in the West, Western monks have had a vow of stability: staying in one particular community as much as is feasible. I never knew this about Eastern and Western monasticism.