That's a good point: the problems with modernity can take us back to ancient therapies.

I wouldn't even say my ambivalence about modern secularism is only implicit or unconscious since I've written numerous criticisms of that culture (about consumerism, scientism, free market capitalism democratic tribalism, the shallowness of the political spectrum, the data glut on the internet, the loss of the arts due to technological progress, and so on).

Indeed, the difference between ancient and modern sages may come down to the Promethean or Luciferian pride that makes for modern dualism (which I've also written about elsewhere). The concept of progress is based on humanistic pride, on confidence in the individual's ability to solve problems. Where did that pride come from? From revolutionary developments in "modern" history, such as the scientific and industrial revolutions, and the rise of capitalism and democracy.

Again, the ancients had no such developments, no such basis for humanistic pride. So retreat was their main option for enlightenment. (More precisely, they had lesser forms of those developments, such as Alexandrian globalism, and the shifting tides of other empires).