Ausheev was born in 1962 in Chita Oblast, where he later become a physical-education teacher. He defied the prevailing atheism in the Soviet Union and sought training at the Zanabazar Buddhist University in Ulan Bator, Mongolia in 1983. Aushev finished his degree in 1988 with a specialization in Tibetan medicine. In 1991, he was named chief lama of the Murochinskii datsan, which was the first datsan on the territory of the Republic of Buryatia.

In 1995, he was elected Khambo-lama of the Central Spiritual Directorate of the Buddhists of the Russian Federation. Ausheev achieved some public notoriety in 1998 when a group of Buddhists led by Ausheev clashed with police in Buryatia over a decision by republican authorities to allow an atlas of Tibetan medicine to tour museums in North America. The atlas, which is actually a series of paintings, is considered sacred to Buddhists.