He was influenced by Taoists, Laozi and Zhuangzi,[2] and although we are told he enjoyed Lao Tzu’s Daodejing (Tao-te ching, Dotokyu-kyo), he was overjoyed when he discovered the Vimalakirti Sutra.
They all have subtle meaning, and scholars venerate them.” (Hurvitz 54) While adding nothing substantively new, this version highlights Sengzhao's importance as a liaison between the Indian Kumarajiva and the Chinese language.
The gong’an (meditation puzzle) collection known as the Biyen lu (Blue Cliff Record) contains a tale concerning Sengzhao's death which by all accounts is apocryphal.
Despite its spurious legend regarding Zhao's demise, within the gongan commentary supplied by the Chan (“meditation”; Japanese Zen) master Yunmen, we find another reference to his life that provides some insight into his correspondence with Liu Yimin.
According to the Biyen lu, Sengzhao not only took Kumrajva as his teacher, but “he also called upon the bodhisattva Buddhabhadra at the Temple of the Tile Coffin, who had come from India to transmit the mind-seal of the twenty-seventh Patriarch.