Hi and Welcome to ATP!
Like Elaine said, Lotus seeds should be hard. Very hard. I had to use a dremel tool to make a cut through the seed coat so they would germinate - the coats were about 2mm's thick! The seed coats on these guys are so hard and thick that 1000+ year old Lotus seeds have been successfully germinated.
That said, just stick them in a small jar with some water and change it daily. If your tap water is heavily chlorinated get some bottled water. Here is a picture of mine I germinated.
