Our school, the Esoteric Teaching, follows the Vedic spiritual tradition, which is based on the Absolute Truths revealed in the ancient Vedic literatures. Animal killing is prohibited in the Vedas except for certain sacrifices, in which the performer basically makes a deal with the animal granting it human life in the next birth, in exchange for being able to kill him in a similar sacrifice in the future...

God, Krsna, is unlimited, and so Vedic knowledge and spiritual realization are also unlimited. There is the story of Dr. Frog:

When [for you example] go to school, you are accepting the false ego of 'I am a materialistic university student.' You wear the uniform, go to the classes, so naturally everyone treats you exactly like a materialistic university student. 

This is why monks wear robes. It sends a message saying, "I am not like you. I have a different purpose in life: a spiritual purpose. Do not treat me like an ordinary rascal. I don not want to hear about anything but God."

The Vedic meaning of sacrifice is a little different from the common Western meaning. We sacrifice the senses of hearing and speech when we engage them in nama-sakirtan.

Maybe the word 'engage' is easier to understand in this context. When we engage something in the pleasure and service of the Lord instead of material sense pleasure, that is sacrifice. A devotee engages all his senses in acts of sacrifice just to please the Supreme Lord.

Onions and garlic are in the mode of ignorance. They produce an offensive body and breath odor, and stimulate lust. They cannot be offered to Krsna. You will be surprised at how pure your consciousness will become if you quit them.

sukhaṁ tv idānīṁ tri-vidhaṁ śṛṇu me bharatarṣabha

abhyāsād ramate yatra duḥkhāntaṁ ca nigacchati

yat tad agre viṣam iva pariṇāme 'mṛtopamam

tat sukhaṁ sāttvikaṁ proktam ātma-buddhi-prasāda-jam

Generally we set aside one very nice plate for the Lord. When we cook we do not taste the food. Then we offer the first serving by placing the plate before the pictures of guru and Krsna, bowing down and reciting the mantras. After giving them a few minutes to eat, then we distribute the maha-prasadam to everyone or merge it back into the cooking pots, and serve everyone.

Initiation requires a personal relationship with a self-realized soul―a spiritual Master Teacher. You have to convince the spiritual Master Teacher that you are a serious student of the Esoteric Teaching, that you are following the regulative principles of spiritual life, making steady progress in spiritual practice and realization, and that you have a nice service attitude. The best way to do this is to register on our course site, participate enthusiastically in the Forum discussions, attend the online Sunday Satsang, ask meaningful questions and offer service to the spiritual Master Teacher and to the other devotees. Usually we prefer to work with someone for six months to a year before granting initiation.