Sitting in the Lotus Blossom

Sitting in the Lotus Blossom

Transcribed & Illustrated by

Diane Goble

SMASHWORDS EDITION

Sitting in the Lotus Blossom

Copyright © 2010 by Diane Goble

ISBN 978-096386064-4

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All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Author’s Note (2010)

I transcribed this book in 1989 but it was never published. I had it available as a web site for many years but never marketed it. Now that the technology allows me to publish it so it may be read on electronic readers, it feels like the time is right to release it to the public. I re-read it in preparation to upload it, and made a few minor corrections and fixed some typos, but I would say overall it still holds up so I didn’t make any content changes. Keep in mind that it was written two years after the Harmonic Convergence and I had lived among a community of people who were at the forefront of the New Age Movement in Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida at the time. Although I never really considered myself to be a New Ager, I was involved in mind-body-spirit healing at the time and occasionally joined their group activities, which were always light hearted and fun. This was over about a 3-year period and I transcribed this book after I moved away from that area. My market at the time was New Agers, thus the drawings and references to it. I decided to leave the chapters with references to the New Age Movement in this version because it shows how consciousness has evolved over the past twenty years. -dg

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Prologue

Did you ever feel that your life is just a struggle going nowhere? That's how most of my life had been... always doing things the hard way... fighting the establishment... shunning the status quo... breaking new ground... going where no woman has gone before. Just tell me I can't do something and I'll put all my energy into proving that I can! I believed life was a struggle and I was going in circles. Now I realize that it was only so because I believed it to be so. I used to think of myself as less than worthless, now I know I am a powerful spiritual being capable of changing the world... with the wisdom to know that everyone else is also. God really had to smack me upside the head a few times before I would let go of my attachment to struggling and just surrender to the flow.

It was the summer of 1971 that first got my attention. We had been living in Chicago, my husband and I with our three children. He was an assistant cameraman and was hired to work on a movie called Deliverance, which was filmed on location in the northeast corner of Georgia. It was a three-month shoot so the whole family, including our St. Bernard, Sam, went along. We rented a little house in Clayton, and the kids and I spent our time exploring the tri-state area and getting to know the locals. For recreation on Sundays, some of the crew members took up whitewater river rafting. Sort of a busman's holiday since they were working on the river six days a week. They picked out a stretch of river where they had been filming for a while where they thought it wasn't too dangerous for amateur adventurers. On this particular trip, we had two four-person rafts with my husband John, my 16 year old sister JoAnn, and two other crew members in one raft; myself and Wally Worsley, Sue Dwiggens and Skip Cosper in the other. The Chattooga is not quite the raging Colorado, but it has some pretty wild rapids. There was enough danger to make the ride thrilling and to build one's self-confidence after making it through each stretch of whitewater, but not enough trouble as far as we knew to make you think someone might die.

There is, however, a very tricky part in the center of the river at the head of the last set of rapids at Woodall Shoals, called a hydraulic. Normally, when water flows over rock formations in a river, it goes over or around and continues down river. In this case, there is an accumulation of rocks piled up and about a four-foot drop to the water line. Below the water line, at the base of the rocks, there is a deep hole… a keeper hole. The water pours down into this hole and churns around a few times before it continues downstream. There is a tendency for things that go over a fall like this to become trapped and held fast by the action of the water. There are the broken remains of several kayaks scattered along the shoreline to attest to its power. When the river is high following a rainstorm, a smart rafter can avoid this obstacle by going through a narrow pass near the far shore and continuing down through roughly 100 yards of rapids to the next calm water below, which we had done on a previous trip. On this day, however, it hadn't rained all week and the river was extremely low.

We beached our rafts at the head of the rapids and got out to read the river. The path around the hydraulic was too shallow and narrow for the rafts to get through, but, since the river was low, the hydraulic didn't look as treacherous as it did the last time we took this trip. The drop to the water was steeper, but the path through the rocks was clearer. We could read the currents better-- just head into it from the shore, turn a 90 degree angle, maneuver the raft around the rocks hand over hand, turn the nose of the raft downstream and go for it. It looked simple enough.

As a precaution, we took all the extra oars and life jackets, the coolers and cameras, extra clothes and shoes out of John’s raft and into ours, and they plunged into the river. The plan worked perfectly... 90 degrees, turn the nose and down they went. A piece of cake. The rest of us laughed at our earlier concern and decided it was so easy, we'd just jump in, gear and all, and follow them. So we did. But, somehow our raft got turned around by the current and, instead of nose down, we went tail first. Sue and all our gear that we had so carefully taken out of the other raft were immediately dumped out and went tumbling down the rapids. I had been in the front of the raft, straddling the side. When the raft turned around, I was grabbed by the water rushing over the fall and started to slip off the raft. Frantically, I tried to grab onto something to keep from going over, but there was nothing there. Just as I slipped over the side, one of the men still in the raft managed to grab my wrist as I slid down. I found myself stuck between a rock and a hard place; the rocks at my back, the raft in my face, tons of water pushing me down, and Skip, my would-be rescuer trying to pull me up.

The relentless action of this water monster caused the raft to fill with water and then buck, emptying it. One of these bucks threw Wally out, but Skip clung tenaciously to my wrist and occasionally he was able to pull me up enough for me to get a quick breath of air. Well, I began to analyze my situation, which is what we Virgos do under all circumstances, and I quickly came to the conclusion that I was going to die right then and there. My life didn't flash before my eyes. I didn't think about the people I was leaving behind. I just calmly accepted it. It wasn't a matter of whether I was going to die, but how. I decided I would rather drown than get my head bashed in by the rocks, so the next time my head broke the surface, with my last breath, I managed to shout, Let go! And Skip did.

As the water pulled me under and I breathed it in, the most peaceful feeling came over me. I seemed to relax and become one with the river as I was taken by the tumbling currents beneath the surface. Everything went black. I had no awareness of anything happening to me. Then suddenly I awakened high above the river, looking down on the scene below. I watched my husband and sister running back up the hill, then standing on the rocks on the shoreline, watching helplessly. I saw Sue hanging onto a rock downstream and Wally now struggling in the white water to reach her. Several other people, who apparently had been picnicking near the pool below, came running up to find out where all the debris was coming from. Skip was still in the raft, hanging onto the side, looking into the water for my body to emerge.

John looked as if he was going to jump in to try to save me but he wasn’t much of a swimmer. As soon as I thought about stopping him to tell him I was all right, I was by his side. I reached out to get his attention but my arm went right through him and I suddenly realized… oh my god, I’m dead!

With that realization, I was quickly drawn away from the earth. I felt my self suddenly being pulled very quickly into a silent blackness. As I accelerated through the darkness, I saw streaks of light passing by emanating from a pinpoint of brilliant while light ahead of me, as if I were traveling through a tunnel or vortex at a high rate of speed. The light grew larger and more colorful as I approached. I was surrounded by a wonderful feeling of unconditional love and acceptance.

I quickly realized I wasn't alone. There was someone, whom I can only describe as a loving Being of Light, traveling beside me... at the speed of light! We communicated telepathically. This was someone I have always known and I knew that as soon as I sensed the presence of this being. Yet I cannot now tell you who it was. I didn't have the sense that it was any familiar religious figure or deceased relative, but rather a special friend who is always with me wherever I am; perhaps, my guardian angel. We communicated telepathically and every question I ever had was answered before I could even ask it.

In an instant, total knowledge of reality appeared to me and I perceived the mutil-dimensionality of the universe and how it all works. My consciousness expanded so far beyond the physical plane that I was no longer aware of it, nor of my body. I was so much a part of it all there was no distinction between me and everything else. I looked into the light and this feeling of love so profound, powerful and overwhelming washed over me. I can only describe it as pure Bliss (even though that doesn't begin to describe it). I knew I was being welcomed home

The Bible suddenly made complete sense to me (I had read it before but it was just a bunch of words and stories). I realized all religions are the same in trying to explain God, they just use different words to express the same principles--love each other, respect each other’s rights, be responsible, caring, kind and return that love to the Source of your being with everything you do. And no one religion is right or better or the only way or even necessary. We are all God’s children. We all are one with God. All loved unconditionally.

God is not some big old guy with a long white beard sitting on a throne who judges human kind and causes earthquakes and floods to punish us. God is All That Is and All That Is is Love. There is no death. There is no Heaven where we rest or slumber while awaiting some Judgement Day nor Hell where we are punished for our sins, but there are many levels of existence in various frequencies of light. Going through them and learning from them is our eternal spiritual journey. Life goes on as we evolve in consciousness and raise our frequency. Each human lifetime we live is like a blip in our spiritual journey.

I continued to be aware of this feeling of love surrounding me throughout my experience. There was no fear, no anxiety, no worry. I even felt as if I'd done this before, many times, and was remembering that I was returning to my spiritual home. I was filled with joy. I had no sense of a body, no feeling of limitations or boundaries. Yet, I was still me and aware that I was having this experience. Not Diane, but my true self of which Diane is a part.

Suddenly, we burst into the light and a whole new reality was revealed to me, similar to the physical world, but, in this higher vibration, more colorful, more beautiful, more amazing. Filled with light but there was no sun.

I saw, not with eyes, plants, trees, mountains, lakes, animals, and shimmering crystal-like buildings, some very large and ornate. I saw beings moving about, light beings, going about their daily lives. They don't have human-like bodies, but they are distinct fields of energy. They don't walk, they float. They have lives much like ours with purpose and meaning, but without the struggles and sorrows brought on by our attachments to physical things. They are artists, musicians, dancers, singers, inventors, builders, healers, creators of magical things... imagining the things they will manifest in their next lifetimes in the physical dimension.

The Being of Light told me it was my choice to stay or go, but that there was more for me to do for my soul’s growth in this lifetime as Diane if I chose to continue. Still hesitating, I was told that if I chose to go back, I would be given certain knowledge to take back with me to share with others. After much discussion, I agreed to go back and suddenly found myself in front of a tall cone-shaped building; so tall, it seemed to go up forever. I was told this was the Hall of Knowledge. I entered the building and flew, spiraling upwards, through what appeared to be shelves of books, like in a library, many millions of books, and I flew through them all. When I reached the top, I burst through it into a kaleidoscope of colors and, at the same time, my head popped out of the water about 100 yards downriver from the raft!

I gasped for air and grabbed the first rock I came to and pulled myself onto it. I coughed up a lot of water but my mind was fairly clear about where I was, not so sure about where I had been. I saw Sue and Wally in the water, and Skip still in the raft, still stuck against the rocks, fighting to hold on as the raft filled and bucked with frequent regularity.

I was astonished to be back in my body in the river. I remembered where I had been for an instant but then it was gone. Did that really happen? There was a moment of cognitive dissonance, of being uncomfortable in my physical body, but I wasn’t exhausted like I’d been fighting with the river to stay alive. John, who still thought I was stuck under the raft because no one saw my body come out and float downstream, saw me surface down river and ran down to help me get out. He says I mumbled something about going somewhere else, but was basically incoherent. I had no words to describe where I was, no point of reference to begin to explain it, as I had never heard of such a thing happening to anyone before. As we made our way back up toward the raft, I saw the safety line tied to the front of the raft whipping back and forth in the current. I made a dive for it and carried it to the side of the river. The others were then able to pull Skip and the raft free.

I can't say that I was clinically dead, but I have no memory of struggling under the water or trying to hold my breath until I reached the surface. (I've been a swimmer, water skier, scuba diver, and surfer, so I've had plenty of close calls under water before when I thought I might die, but nothing like this. These other times I remember perfectly well struggling to reach the surface, my lungs about to burst, trying not to inhale, totally aware of my physical experience.) What I do remember during the time (and I’m guessing it was no more than a few minutes) my body was under the water is what I have stated here. I walked around in shock for months afterwards, not knowing how to describe my experience nor integrate it into my life. When I did try to tell someone what I experienced, I was patted on the head and told to forget it, that I was lucky to be alive… which is why I repressed the memory and tried to get on with my life.

My life changed immediately and drastically after that day in the river and I went through some very troubled times because I didn't know what was happening to me, including a divorce (my husband had no clue what I was going through after my strange experience and just thought I must be crazy), child custody battles, trying to find a job after not working for almost ten years, being single again... my kundalini was running amuck causing sexual promiscuity, depression and suicidal thoughts. My dark night of the soul led me on a long, winding path, to becoming a seeker of my higher purpose. I knew there was a reason I chose to come back when I was on the other side, but once back in body, it was a mystery to me that I even had a purpose.

A series of synchronicities led me to go