Like darshan, falling at the feet of a Master also has special value of its own. The feet, which are physically the lowest part of the body, are the highest from the spiritual point of view. Physically, the feet go through everything-good and bad, beautiful and ugly, clean and dirty; yet they remain above everything. Spiritually, the feet of the Masters are above everything in the universe, which is like dust to them. When people come to a Perfect Master and touch his feet with their hands, they lay the burden of their sanskaras on him. He collects the sanskaras from all over the universe, just as an ordinary person, in walking, collects dust on his feet.
There is an ancient tradition that after the aspirant has the darshan of a Master and falls at his feet, he washes the Master’s feet with milk and honey and places a coconut near them as his offering. Honey represents red (bad) sanskaras, milk represents white (good) sanskaras, and the coconut represents the mind. Thus this convention, which has become established in some areas in connection with greeting the Masters, really symbolizes throwing the burden of all sanskaras on the Master and surrendering the mind to him. Adoption of this inner attitude constitutes the most critical and important step that the aspirant must take in order to get initiated on the spiritual path.
– Discourses 7th Ed., p 187