I'm a buddhist. I think.

For you, as a reader of this blog that may sound like stating the obvious, but let me assure it is not.
As this is my first post on this blog (thanks again Justin!), let me give you a short introduction of who I am and along the way I hope you will start to understand why this is not so obvious.

Hello everybody, I'm Kurt and I'm a buddhist.

I think.

I first got in touch with buddhism about 15 years ago when I was struggling with the big question of life.
"Why am I here?"

And it was through buddhism, philosophy and a whole lot of less intellectual (and legal) activities that I came to the conclusion that I realised I get to decide why I am here.
Which still left me with the question as to what I was going to pick.

Luckily the Dalai Lama gave me the option I was looking for.

I am on this planet to be happy.

Along the way I came across the basics of buddhism, the Four Noble Truths.
Looking back I have spent most of the time on truth 1 & 2, where now I can see the power is in truth 3 & 4.
Not entirely sure how long it took me to figure it all out, but I do know that ever since I did figure that out, I have been learning how to be happy as much as possible, as often as possible.

So a few months ago I finally made it to truth nr. 4 and I started my journey on the Eightfold Path.
Which pretty soon led me here!
While studying the Eightfold Path I also learned that once you decide to start following this path, you are a buddhist. I guess this is what I needed to hear to confirm what I have known all along for the last 15 years: I'm a buddhist!
But as I'm a scientist by education and still leaving some of the habits that come with such a background behind, I need a second (or even a third opinion), so here's my question to all you readers:

What was your moment when you decided you are a Buddhist?

The one thing that set a lot of these changes into motion, was my blog at kurtgielen.me. On this blog I decided to share with the whole world the real and complete me. No more mr. Marketing Manager at work, frustrated and easily irritated dad after a long work day, and buddhist only during those few moments when I was on my own.
No, I decided to go all in and be me, always. Which is why the invite to participate in this blog is such an awesome thing for me as it forces me to walk the talk I do on my personal blog.

Now that you all know who I am, let me just briefly tell you what I will definitely be blogging about.
As a fairly 'new' buddhist I will be sharing my experience and questions, hopefully starting some discussion from other travellers on this path.
As a scientist (Master in Biochemistry) by education I have a really strong interest in the science behind meditation, especially the effect it has on the brain and the rest of the body.
As a marketing manager working for a large corporate organisation, I have firsthand experienced how buddhism can help me survive and thrive in what is by some, including me in the past, perceived as a potentially non-buddhist environment.
And as a father, husband and overall busy person, expect posts about the struggles and pleasures of integrating buddhism and meditation in "the real life".

Everything that is not related to buddhism I will continue to share on kurtgielen.me.
If you want to say hi, you can find all my online profiles on about.me/kurtgielen. Do come and hook up, I like company.

And as always,

Have fun!

Kurt