Yes, enlightened persons experience the aggregates until death, but without attachment, aversion, or the illusion of a permanent self.
The five aggregates (skandhas) are the fundamental components of experience: form (the physical body and sense objects), feeling (pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral sensations), perception (recognition and labeling), mental formations (thoughts, intentions, and mental states), and consciousness (awareness itself). They are not inherently problematic; rather, they are the basic structure through which all sentient beings—including enlightened ones—experience reality.
Buddhism does not teach that enlightenment means escaping the aggregates entirely. Instead, enlightenment involves a fundamental shift in how one relates to them.
An enlightened person (an arhat in Theravada Buddhism, or a bodhisattva or Buddha in Mahayana traditions) continues to possess a body, sensations, thoughts, and consciousness. They eat food, feel physical sensations, and engage with the world. The Pali Canon contains numerous accounts of enlightened disciples walking, speaking, and interacting with others.
The critical difference is that enlightened persons have eliminated craving, aversion, and ignorance—the mental poisons that bind beings to suffering. They experience the aggregates without grasping at them, without the false belief in a permanent, independent self, and without generating new karma that would perpetuate rebirth.
Suffering arises not from the aggregates themselves but from not understanding their true nature and from clinging to them. The Second Noble Truth teaches that suffering stems from tanha (craving or thirst). An enlightened person has extinguished this craving, so the aggregates no longer generate suffering.
The Samyutta Nikaya describes how even after enlightenment, physical pain can still occur—the Buddha himself experienced back pain and dysentery—but the enlightened person does not experience dukkha (suffering or distress) because they lack the mental resistance and false identification that ordinarily accompanies pain.
What ceases is not the aggregates themselves but the cycle of rebirth driven by ignorance and craving. In Theravada terminology, an arhat has eliminated the asavas (mental intoxicants or corruptions) and will not be reborn after death. The aggregates continue functioning until the body dies, at which point they disperse naturally.
The Mahayana tradition, particularly in Pure Land and other schools, sometimes presents a more complex picture where enlightened beings voluntarily take rebirth to help others, but even then, the fundamental freedom from attachment and ignorance remains.
Parinirvana (the final cessation at death) represents the complete extinguishing of the aggregates. This is the ultimate goal in Theravada Buddhism. Until that moment, the enlightened person's aggregates function, but without generating new karma or suffering. The aggregates are like a fire that has burned out its fuel—it is no longer burning, though the embers may still be warm.
Mahayana Buddhism introduces additional complexities, such as the concept of Buddha-bodies that transcend ordinary aggregates, but the principle remains: enlightenment is not about ceasing to experience the aggregates while alive, but about experiencing them without delusion or suffering.
This understanding is important because it clarifies that enlightenment in Buddhism is not about transcending embodied existence or becoming non-functional. An enlightened person remains engaged with the world, responding skillfully to circumstances. The aggregates become transparent instruments of action rather than sources of confusion and suffering.
This is why the Buddha could teach, eat, and walk after his awakening. His continued experience of the aggregates was not a limitation on his enlightenment but rather the necessary condition for his activity in the world.