Note 3 — THE DIAMOND SUTRA

“Bhagavat said: These, O Subhuti, are neither beings nor no-beings. And why? Because, O Subhuti, those who were preached as beings, beings indeed, they were preached as no-beings by the Tathagata, and therefore they are called beings.”—The Vagrakkhedika. Max Müller.

Although these are ordinarily referred to as sentient beings, there are spiritual elements in their real natures, which place them in a category only imperfectly described by the term “sentient beings”; but possessing also evident material qualities, it might be an error to assert that these are not “sentient beings”; hence the declaration of the Lord Buddha, “they are merely termed sentient beings.”—Chinese Annotation.