Seems to me you're right. In the distant past I read some into the Essenes in regard to the Dead Sea scrolls and so forth. I don't recall whether the Essenes were into life after death or against it (was that the Sadducees?) but that would seem to be another potential point of crossover influence.
Pro-death. The Essenes were mystics.
I am curious if their social structure resembled Gardens, because they are opposed, ideologically.