Having said all that, I have full confidence in what I believe to be at the heart of the Buddha's teaching, which is that dukkha is real and that permanent liberation from dukkha is possible through sustained and diligent practice of the eightfold path.

Here's the issue... Dukkha is commonly used to refer to suffering, but when the Buddha talks about suffering, he is referring to a concept far more abstract than how we typically understand suffering. To the Buddha, happiness is Dukkha, attachment is Dukkha, bliss is Dukkha. Dukkha doesn't purely refer to literal suffering, it refers to all manner of attachments that cause an individual to be stuck in the rebirth cycle.

While it is true concentration meditations will bring about literal bliss states and help reduce a lot of the literal suffering in an individuals life - the Buddha would say they are still in Dukkha. In this way, Buddhism is not at all about ending the literal emotional/psychological suffering in this life, even though that can happen to an extent, it is referring to a greater existential suffering.

As far as the supernatural is concerned, fear not...

People will tell you that these things are an inherent part of Buddhism and the Buddhas teachings, as they are, but it's important to remember that the strong point of Buddhas Teachings is that you do not have to take his word for anything if you do not want to. The practices are there so you can experience and discover on your own. Buddhism encourages skepticism and exploration, but within reason.

My question, then, is - what does it take to call oneself Buddhist?

As others have said, there is no real answer for this.

The same question could be posed about being a Christian. Someone can be both a Christian and an Atheist. There are many angles an individual could interpret the words of Christ, even if they just wanted to focus on his moral teachings and completely disregard the rest of the bible.

I consider myself a Buddhist, as well as a Christian, and in part a Hindu. I consider myself a Buddhist because I do many Buddhist meditations and observe some Buddhist life principals. I consider myself a Christian because I observe many of Jesus's teachings. I consider myself part-Hindu because I practice a number of Yogic meditations which are documented in the Upanishads.

The interesting thing is, I don't reject any of the aforementioned mythologies, however nor do I accept them in totality. I do believe in the supernatural miracles that the Buddha is said to do, as I believe in the miracles of Christ, as well as the miracles of many Hindu Yogis that Yoga is said to bring. (For what it's worth, much of Yogic meditation is extremely similar to Buddhist meditation).

Many Buddhist also share this view of mine, that the Buddha is not the only individual from history who has achieved these states of high consciousness and performed miraculous feats. Many consider Jesus to be a Bodhisattva who taught his own understanding of the Dharma.

Someone left me an interesting comment the other day that said something along the lines of: "Many of these spiritual masters from history were indeed legitimate, but they each had a different mastery of the truth, and told it from the best angle they could".

I believe: Just because someone can achieve high states of consciousness and potentially perform miracles, doesn't mean their knowledge is infallible. That would be like suggesting a bodybuilder knows everything about fitness just because they are buff. I believe there have been many wise individuals from history, who have glimpsed different perspectives of "whatever is greater" in the universe, and have tried to communicate that knowledge to man. That is all.

Not trying to persuade you with my post or anything, just thought you might be curious to hear my perspective. Be skeptical. Skepticism is good, and is encouraged in Buddhism. I will tell you it took me many years to come to these conclusions of mine, and they may likely evolve further in the future. I used to be a Christian, then an Atheist, and now I am where I am. No single label fits me. Research, meditate, and come to your own conclusions.