Seven Tibetan Buddhist monks created a colored-sand mandala in the URI Memorial Union this fall. The monks, all from the Drepung Loseling Monastery, spent a week creating the mandala, then destroyed it. The complex and beautiful 2,000-year-old art form is meant to illustrate life’s impermanence and invite attention to the idea of cultivating compassion. The monks’ visit coincided with the United Nations’ International Day of Peace, Sept. 21.