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Tolkien was a Creationist, not a Buddhist.
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Yes, I think we can all agree that he was not a Buddhist. And we can also agree that Tolkien's writings primarily reflect the ideas he had garnered from his study of northern myth, his own vast knowledge of languages, and his commitment to his Catholic faith.
Yet, a piece of writing has a life of its own: it is more than what an author puts into it. The readers who come to Lord of the Rings bring their own knowledge and background, and these are certainly not identical to Tolkien. When an individual looks at the stories and filter them through his minds, his response to the text will be unique, different than that of any other reader. This is what makes literature so exciting. If it was just a set piece that could be understood in only one way, things could get boring very fast.
Sometimes, our response to the text is a personal one. We see something that's happened to one of the characters, and we can see how it's similar to something that's occurred in our own life. It's as if a light goes on, and a door opens up. A passage that we'd read a dozen times before suddenly has new meaning. Tolkien didn't necessarily put that meaning there intentionally, but we see it through the prism of our own experience.
This one-on-one encounter applies not just to personal experiences but also to the more general set of knowledge each reader brings to the text. If someone is familiar with a particular religion, historical period, or philosophy they may look at the book and see echoes that remind them of related themes or examples. That doesn't mean that Tolkien was an adherent of that particular religion or movement, or that he put something in intentionally for that reason. What it does mean is that, despite all our differences, there are underlying, universal themes that find expression in many different mythological, religious and historical forms.
Tolkien, for example, may have presented war and non-violence as an early twentieth century man who was influenced by his own Christian beliefs and by examples from his beloved northern myths. Yet there are other myths and religions. even other historical epochs, that also have something to teach us about these same universal themes. In my opinion, it is legitimate for a reader to point out such similarities and differences. Whether you would agree with a particular interpretation or not, whether you see a similarity or difference, is something else. Like any reader, you have the right to agree or disagree.
Child, newly converted proponent of the reader's right to interpret the text
