Tolkien spiritualty... A hint of Buddhism?

[Baran]

That is not to say a person couldn't "abuse" the book by focusing so completely on it that other essential things are lost in their life. This could happen not only with Tolkien, but with many good things. Food, family, friends, literature/art, and work all have a place in our life, but even good things may get "out of balance" if we lose a sense of perspective. And, in this limited sense, Tolkien's writings are as capable of abuse as many other things.

Of course it is possible to read LotR and enjoy it for what it is, a highly enertaining book. I don't think Tolkien tried to make a statement or to preach anything, he wanted to write a great story. And he did, he created a vaste world you can "dwell" in, and many people define their identity from it. Who of you didn't find it sad to put LotR down after finishing reading it, because you were going to miss all the characters and places in the book? i know I did. And some people might distance themselves from their own world, replacing it with the fictional world of M-E. As Child of the 7th age wrote, this is of course not only a phenomen of Tolkiens work, humans do this all the time, with drugs, movies, star-wars, fassion, stamp-collections...
I personaly can't compare the work of Tolkien with other great books I've read. I don't feel I learned much from reading it, I was just highly entertained. Where really good books invites you to take a look at yourself and the world around you from a different perspective, for me LotR just was a good story.

Earlier i wrote that people define their identity from LotR. Imo this is one of the basic needs people have. Thats where everything from religions to fan-clubs steam from, and that's how you create yourself and the sense of a soul. The goal of Buddhism is to rid yourself of this "illusion" of self and soul. This is my opinion of the books from a personal Buddhist-infuenced perpective, and I won't argue that what I'm saying applies to other people. You might read the books and get to know yourself better, I just didn't.