Inhabitant of cave beginning to investigate eastern religion (7)

I believe the answer is:

denizen

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'inhabitant' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'cave beginning to investigate eastern religion' is the wordplay.
'cave' becomes 'den' (I've seen this before).
'beginning to' suggests taking the first letters.
'eastern religion' becomes 'zen' (Zen is an example. I am not sure about the 'eastern' bit.).
The first letter of 'investigate' is 'i'.
'den'+'i'+'zen'='DENIZEN'

'of' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for denizen that I've seen before include "Enid Zen (anag) - inhabitant of a particular place" , "Inhabitant, occupant" , "Dweller" , "Resident" , "Inhabitant (of the deep?)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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