Literally, manana simply means 'to think'. But it is clever thinking. The big question here is: 'Do I think healthy, blessed for myself?' If I don't feel good about myself, the answer is no, and the invitation is to go back to śravaṇa, listening to the words of the teacher. It is also an opportunity to enter into a conversation with the teacher, to reflect together on what is lacking.

To remove, preferably with the help of the teacher and reasoning, all vagueness, fallacies, and misunderstandings that may have arisen during śravaṇam (or elsewhere) until one's understanding of the knowledge is flawless and complete, so that it can set the mind free.

In this phase it is very useful to ask questions to the teacher, and to be vulnerable. As soon as I expose my mind to an authority of knowledge, it shows where the ignorance is, and I can be quickly corrected and grow. This is difficult for most people. We all want to know better. But if you are stuck, this is the solution.

In manana you will also find out if your knowledge is complete. Vedānta has no answer to 'why?' -ask. But vedanta is complete knowledge about every aspect of existence. If there are gaps in my knowledge, this is the phase to find out, by following lectures on a certain text, which deals with a certain subject, or by asking precisely formulated questions. By thinking about what you hear, you complete your knowledge.