Glad you're beginning to learn more about Buddhism as Buddhism
is completely relevant to our daily lives and offers us insight
into the nature of reality if we can practise it. May you gain in
wisdom and find bliss of dharma. 
'Gods' and 'prayers', what do you mean by them? In Buddhism we do
not worship any gods. And what do you mean by 'prayers'? Can you
elaborate them?
Lastly, a Buddhist only needs to watch that (if they are not
vegetarian) their meat comes from 5 clean sources, see Five Clean
Sources of Meat. Why? Because we do not want to commit more
serious karma as a result of the diet we take. If we can eat meat
under these 5 conditions, the karma will be much less.
Five Clean Sources of Meat
Many people firmly recognise that
the Buddha's teachings are full, subtle, comprehensive and
profound. They recognise and revere the truth of the Buddha-dharma
as soon as they encounter it. However, they face a common dilemma:
they hesitate to take refuge in the Three Treasures because they do
not wish to be vegetarians. For this reason, some ponder at the
gate of Buddhism for a long time and are afraid to take that step
forward. Others arrive at the crossroad of religion, some took the
wrong turn and ended up with some cults or unorthodox ways. They do
not realise that it is not easy to be born a human, and it is even
harder to have the opportunity to encounter the Buddha-dharma.
Having been born a human, it is indeed a waste of opportunity not
to embrace Buddhism as it knocks at our door.
The Buddha-dharma is infinite and there are in reality more than
84,000 Dharma doors, or methods by which we can embark to learn and
practise Buddhism. Vegetarianism is just one of the many methods.
To refrain from killing is merely a means of assisting us to
progress in our cultivation. As a medicine, meat is permitted in
the Buddhist precepts if it is required to cure a particular
sickness. Buddhism cherishes compassion. However, killing and
causing harm to life have their retributions. The world has no
peace as victims and villains engage in a vicious cycle of
vengeance and revenge, culminating in calamities and disasters, and
inflicting suffering and misery across the world.
Buddha understands the ignorance and habits of sentient beings that
have accumulated from aeons of their many past lives. In order to
provide sentient beings with an expedient means of embracing
Buddhism, those who are not able to convert to a vegetarian diet on
a long term basis are permitted to consume meat provided:
(1) That he did not slaughter the animal personally
(2) That he did not instruct others to slaughter
(3) That the slaughter was not committed for his sake
(4) That he did not witness the slaughter
(5) That he did not hear the cries associated with the
slaughter
To refrain from killing is fundamental to Buddhism. Regardless of
life forms, we must not kill, we must not instruct others to kill,
and it must not be killed for our sake, for example, to celebrate
our birthday or because we were coming to dinner. These are three
sources of clean meat.
In Confucianism, benevolence also means to refrain from killing. It
is said that heaven has the virtue of loving life. It cannot bear
to witness the loss of life, let alone eat the flesh of those whose
cries in death we have heard. Buddhism advocates compassion and
loving-kindness to all sentient beings, regardless of their
relation to you. It is only appropriate that we do not kill for our
livelihood or for the purpose of celebrating occasions, such as
births, birthdays, funerals or weddings. Meats are no different
from the other foodstuffs purchased from the market if people do
not witness the killing or hear the cries of the animal that is
being slaughtered. If a differentiation between the two kinds of
purchases and the taste of the meat do not exist in the mind, then
the guilt is lighter. Together with the three mentioned earlier,
these constitute the five sources of clean meat.
Meat eating however is a pre-condition to killing. If people
refrain from eating meat, there will be no killing of animals for
meat. Sadly, the human race has committed killings for aeons and is
engaged in an endless cycle of vengeance and revenge over their
past lives. For one who is slaughtered for meat in this life, it is
probably because he had done the same to others in the past. The
score is even, no more and no less.
People who eat meat from the five clean sources are advised to
learn to chant the Buddha's name and the Buddhist mantras, so as to
transfer the merits to those whose meat they are eating. They
should also wish them an early rebirth in the human realm, to
eliminate any thoughts of vengeance, to nurture their virtuous
roots to benefit all sentient beings and together build a peaceful,
caring and blissful pure land in this world. Only when this is
promoted across the entire world, will we be able to eliminate
hatred and vengeance, and enhance a mind of compassion and loving
kindness. In this way we will be able to transform this Saha world
into a pure land.
