” ‘Steam is invisible,’ Yogananda said, ‘but when cooled it becomes visible as water. Water, when cooled further still, becomes ice. Steam and water are without form, but ice can be formed into countless different shapes.
The Infinite Lord, similarly, is invisible behind His creation, even though, like the steam in a steam engine, it is His power that makes everything function. By our devotion, however, we may ‘condense’ Him into visibility as the inner light, beheld in meditation. By still deeper meditation, our devotion’s ‘frost’ may ‘freeze’ Him and cause Him to appear to us in actual form.
Thus, the Infinite Lord has appeared to many devotees as their Heavenly Father, or their Divine Mother, or in countless other aspects that their hearts held dear. ‘ ”
The Essence Of Self-Realization – The Wisdom Of Paramhansa, J. Donald Walters, P. 144 – 145.