What is this mind?

[J. Stew]

I have thoughts in my head. I can act on them by writing them down right here as I am doing, or I can just notice them or be aware of them. So it seems that I have the free will to choose to act on my thoughts, or not to act on them. If my mind is the mind that is thinking thoughts, what is the mind that is capable of being aware of my thoughts, or the mind that is not affected/unattached to my thought process. The 'silent observer'. What is this mind? This is the mind that sees clearly what I am thinking and by seeing clearly what I am thinking, I can choose to act on something or choose not to act on something. If I can't see my thoughts clearly, I do not know what I will do because I may be acting out of some deep rooted frustration or anger or some fear that I am not aware of.

Is this mind that sees the truth about my thoughts and just observes, the mind that sees reality as is without the bias of my thoughts? And if this is the mind that sees reality, what else is this mind capable of seeing, but just the reality that is around me? Is this all that I'm capable of seeing or is there something more than the reality that is around me and that I'm apart of? If I believe in God that would give me some relief from worry. I could have faith and my fears would be gone and I wouldn't worry which would make my mind clear. But isn't faith another thought in my head? Faith seems like acting from some underlying belief/thought. If I act from faith, then my thought-process is affected by some root thought. If I give up conceptual belief and just observe what is going on, what is this empty-mind that actually feels filled? Is this the thing that religion points to, to remain in a state of 'quiet' mind, so you can actually experience what is around you without the crazy interpretation the thinking mind thinks about everything?