The discussion refers to the verse, "'To whom then will you compare Me, that I should be equal,' says the Holy One." We learn that, when the illumination of Malchut descends and spreads to people, then God appears to every individual according to their vision and imagination. It is prohibited to make Him out as a form or image at all. After He created the Chariot of supernal Adam, He is called by the ten Sfirot, so that men could grasp His essence by way of His attributes. However, one must not compare Him even to one of His own aspects. When His domination rises above those aspects, there is no way of comprehending His image. This is like the sea, where the waters have no shape or form, but only gain their form by way of the vessel, which is the earth.
Rabbi Shimon tells us about the vessel Binah that is divided into seven streams; there is a source, a spring, a sea and seven streams, which equal ten. If the vessels were broken, however, the water would return to its source and the broken vessels would remain dry. God called Himself "endless" because there is no end to the welling forth of the light from Keter, the source of His ten Sfirot - and there is no vessel by which one can give Him any form, so He cannot be known. We also learn of the vessels He made called Wisdom and Understanding. Rabbi Shimon explains that Wisdom only exists when a Wise Man fills it with his own welling forth, and the same is true for Understanding. He describes how God called Himself by the qualities of His Sfirot. While He can increase or decrease all the vessels, there is no one over Him who can increase or decrease Him. We read of the servants, the throne, and the angels that He created, and are told that the faith of the Egyptians in their god was broken when they saw that he was merely a horse under the Chariot of God. Again the importance of repentance is emphasized by Rabbi Shimon.